Ascension: The Triumvirate

by Define Anachronistic

(AU) The Triwizard Tournament is here and Harry has qualified as its youngest-ever participant. Rivals the world over have put a target on his back, but he's eager to test his mettle against them- the very best of his generation. But unbeknownst to him, all of this is within the scope of Voldemort's plan. Friends appear to be enemies and enemies as friends. Nothing is as it seems.

13. The Curse of the Extraordinary

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Curse of the Extraordinary

When Andrei woke up after his emergency treatment, the first thing he did was examine his surroundings.

Please, he desperately prayed to all his ancestors who roamed the golden fields of Halcyon. Please let it be a silly dream. Please-!

When the medic helped him sit up, he was forced to accept that the duel against Uagadou had truly taken place. His ears finally took in the din of the cheering crowd and- in his despair- he turned to the one person he always did when he needed to be saved: his twin, Stepan.

If the last thing I remember is true- Andrei recalled falling for his rival's trick with the animated flower petals- then Stepan would have stepped in. He always rises to the occasion when I can't. Especially when I can't. He would have-

For the second time in as many moments, Andrei's hopes were dashed by a cruel reality. He looked to his left and saw his twin being revived not twenty feet from where he was sitting. The sight of his downed brother made his eyes sting, but not out of worry for Stepan, but his own bitterness at having lost.

Knowing his father would be watching, Andrei turned his head away from his brother before the tears could flow, but that turned out to be a mistake. There, glancing back at the defeated Koldovstoretz Triumvirate, was Ekon Adebayo.

The world seemed to slow down all around them as their eyes met, and Andrei was forced to watch impotently as Ekon's lips curved into a self-satisfied smirk.

He wasn't sure what he would have done at that point, as either crying in frustration or attacking his gloating rival seemed equally pointless and desirable at that moment, but he didn't have to find out. A familiar figure appeared in front of him and offered him a hand.

"On your feet," Micah said lowly. He pulled Andrei up with his good hand. His other was bound in a sling from the Withering Curse the Uagadou girl had managed to tag him with not a minute into the ferocious duel. "It's bad enough that they bested us, but remaining on the ground makes the duel seem more one-sided than it truly was."

Andrei blinked, shocked at what he was hearing. The duel had been incredibly close, especially towards the end when it was only Ekon against the might of both Molotov twins. In fact, he would go as far as to say that any reasonable bookmaker would have put the odds heavily in their favour to win.

But that wasn't what had surprised him. Micah was a harsh captain, and he was never impressed, no matter what Andrei and Stepan managed to pull off. To hear any kind of compliment from him should have been earth-shattering for Andrei, but all it managed to do was make him feel even more pathetic than he really was. He hadn't earned it. Not yet.

Micah seemed to sense his turmoil and gave his shoulder a firm squeeze before guiding him to Stepan, who was just getting to his feet. Andrei kept his gaze fixed on the highest railing in the stands, high above where he knew where his father was watching. He didn't want anyone to see him hanging his head in shame.

The fact that this prevented gravity from stealing his bitter tears was only a secondary benefit.

When they reached the Koldovstoretz Box, Andrei thought they were safe from the piercing gaze of the Wizarding World, but he'd forgotten about Hogwarts' defeat earlier in the day. If he'd remembered, he would have known that post-duel interviews were routine for the Triwizard's Top Four teams.

Steeling himself, Andrei kept his mouth firmly shut as he fought through the reporters to get to the tunnel that led to their breakrooms. The only comfort he got from the shower of shouted questions and flashing cameras was the momentary squeeze Stepan gave his forearm.

After a few moments, the mass of bodies around them seemed to lessen, just enough for the twins to wiggle through and reach the respite of the dim tunnel. Feeling suspicious of how easy it was to get away from the media, Andrei glanced back and received another shock when he saw Micah calmly addressing the reporters.

"-every duel to go our way would be the height of arrogance," he was saying. "Obviously, when you think of the name Molotov, you should never think of over-confidence." There was friendly laughter from the reporters. Andrei was famous for his pre-duel boasting. "But in all seriousness, no one can be expected to win one hundred per cent of the time, no matter the matchup. While I am disappointed, if Koldovstoretz were to lose to anyone, it would be to the team who has a Top 16 duellist leading them."

"So, are you saying that Ekon Adebayo was the only reason Koldovstoretz lost?" A reporter asked smoothly. Andrei recognised that tone. It was the one that had lured him to say stupid things.

"Of course not." Micah gestured to his wounded arm. "Lela Nakitanda managed to get me out of the fight, and she did so all on her own. I'd be the last person to underestimate her or Dembe Kasaija." It took a moment for Andrei to even remember who that last name belonged to. The timid Uagadou boy hadn't made much of an impression on him in the twenty seconds he managed to last.

The reporter seemed to sense the obvious contradiction in his statement. Andrei couldn't even fault her for it. Micah had pushed his luck including Uagadou's third wheel.

"But it's clear you had underestimated them before the duel, despite their showing in the quarter-finals." Andrei couldn't see the reporter's face from this angle, but he could almost imagine her hungry expression. She obviously wanted to stir up some added drama between the two schools, thereby earning a few follow-up articles for herself and whatever newspaper she worked for.

Fortunately, Micah was too much of a goody-two-shoes to ever say anything negative about a rival team.

"No, I didn't underestimate them in the least," he began solemnly. "I only overestimated my own ability. If I hadn't, we might be looking at a different result."

Another reporter cut in, sounding genuinely surprised. "You believe you could have made that much of a difference?" Had anyone used such a tone with him, Andrei would have responded with a clipped answer and a not-so-subtle insult, but Micah was as level-headed as ever.

"Yes and no," he said as though those two answers weren't binary. "You think because Andrei, Stepan and Ekon Adebayo have all proven themselves at a professional level that the rest of us are insubstantial, don't you?" Micah paused, but the surprised reporter said nothing, her shoulders drooping at being called out in this strange role reversal. "You wouldn't be the only one. But haven't the preceding duels convinced you otherwise? We've seen fighters who have never duelled outside of their schools wiping the floor with some of the greatest duellists entire nations have to offer."

"You're saying experience doesn't matter?" The first reporter seemed determined to get that follow-up article.

"Of course I'm not saying that," Micah said with his endless, almost patronising patience. "I'm saying that it's not the only thing that matters. Actually, I would say that it doesn't even matter the most." His lanky frame afforded him the height to look over most of the reporters' heads, and his eyes met Andrei's, who suddenly felt like he was under a microscope. "Skill, intelligence, power and the experience to apply them properly are all necessary, but I think desire matters the most.

"Some people tend to throw themselves completely into their work, dedicating their entire being into developing and honing a craft or a skill, and I don't think duelling is any different." Micah's eyes flickered to Stepan, but his gaze shot back to Andrei just as quickly, almost as if he hadn't found what he was looking for with the older twin. "They stick with it every day, and not because they want to, but because they can't fathom doing anything else. They use that desire to drive themselves forward, putting themselves at risk, and consider it worthwhile even if they end up irrevocably damaged because they can see no other alternative."

Andrei felt Stepan shift uncomfortably as he glanced at him, but he didn't let that bother him. He was too engaged with Micah's words.

"You almost make it sound as if they're unbalanced or afflicted with a curse?" Another reporter tried to sound humorous, but his statement came out like a question.

Micah looked considering. "I suppose you can think of them as cursed. I mean, any reasonable person wouldn't train the way they do, or even think to fight as recklessly as they do. It isn't their talent that sets them apart, but their yearning, for either success or just experiencing the fight itself." He shrugged. "Honestly though, I definitely wouldn't include myself among their number." He smiled then. "I'm not sure if I'm lucky or cursed myself, having to fight in an arena with two of them." The small crowd chuckled just a little, not understanding the gravity of Micah Konstantin actually making a joke.

"I could have made more of a difference in that duel," Micah said once the titters had died down. "But no matter how much I wanted it, the other team wanted it more. But don't worry," he added, almost as though he were predicting how much vitriol was about to be thrown his way by all the Koldovstoretz supporters. "I won't let something as unproductive as restraint hold me back a second time. Hogwarts has its own extraordinary duellists, but I won't let their hunger for victory supersede my own."

With that final word, Micah walked towards his teammates, utterly unimpeded by the mass of bodies that had been blocking them before. The reporters had gotten all they had wanted and more.

"I'm cursed, yeah?" Andrei asked challengingly the moment Micah stepped into the gloom of the tunnel.

"Cursed in the head? Definitely," Stepan muttered. Andrei didn't pay him any attention, too used to his twin's grumbled insults.

"I meant that in the nicest way possible." Micah didn't even slow down as he passed them and headed directly for the breakroom. He just automatically expected them to follow him. For the first time, Andrei did so, not out of fear of punishment (being restricted from duelling training now made a lot more sense after Micah's little speech) but because he sincerely wanted to.

It was amazing the impact a few words could have on a person.

Andrei would later wish he had known better so he could guard against it.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"What was that spell he used against us?" Harry asked finally, his hoarse voice breaking the silence. He immediately wished he hadn't. Both Cedric and Eliza turned to look at him as though he were stupid. Cedric had to roll over in his hospital bed to do so, which let Harry know his question was a new level of moronic.

"Hasn't anyone told you?" The older boy asked.

"Of course, they haven't." Eliza snorted, before breaking out into outright giggles at Harry's expression. "He's an Auror! No one should be telling him about Dark Magic. He should already know!"

"I'm an Auror Cadet," Harry corrected. "A Second Year Auror Cadet. If I knew everything there was to know about Dark Magic, I'd be promoted to Sentry."

That only made Eliza laugh harder. "Yeah, because that's definitely how the Auror Corps handles promotions."

Cedric was smiling as well, but at least he had the decency to not laugh. Harry was a little annoyed with the pair of them, but he was also glad that the atmosphere had lightened somewhat. "It wasn't a spell."

"I know. He didn't use a wand, but-"

"It didn't use a wand-" Cedric paused and grimaced. "I mean, he didn't use a wand because he didn't need one. He's an Obscurial."

Harry stared. "Okay, that makes sense," he said at last. "Especially with how he had us reacting to him when most people didn't even seem to notice his presence." The high levels of stress in users of Mage Sight were well documented when it came to Obscurials. Harry guessed it had something to do with a person's Shadow leaning heavily towards Dark Magic, but he kept that to himself. Knowledge of Soul Magic was heavily restricted, and he didn't want Nicolas to get into trouble for teaching him. "But don't Obscurials…you know…die?"

"Yeah," Eliza was eyeing him strangely. Harry realised he had given too much away with his reaction. "Most are killed by the parasite before they reach the age of ten, but they have been known to survive for much longer."

"But those are rare cases, and Kurai doesn't look ill in the slightest." It was a bit of a struggle to make himself seem unaffected by the topic at hand, but he managed to do so only by employing the use of Occlumency.

"You have a point." Cedric frowned. "But what bothers me more is the way he used the Obscurus within him. Those movements and defences aren't instinctual. Someone had to train him."

"Worse, they trained him to kill." Eliza pointed out. "There were a hundred and one ways he could have taken us down without going for kill shots, but he still took them without hesitating."

"Worse than that, he was enjoying it." Harry's insides felt colder than when the spear of black sand had pierced through them. "Remember how he hunted down that Citadel team during the second round?"

"It's a little hard to forget," Eliza muttered.

Despite his blank expression, Cedric seemed to sense Harry's internal turmoil. "It'll be alright. With luck on our side, we won't have to face him again even if we do win the Tournament."

Eliza shifted on her feet, looking uncomfortable with his distress, but she still tried to comfort him anyway. "And even if we do, I won't let him get near you." She reached over to pat him on the arm in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring gesture, but it just came off as awkward.

"No, that's not-" Harry shook his head, not wanting to get into it with anybody, especially with his teammates. He needed them to see him as an equal and not a damaged child.

Unfortunately, he had forgotten that they were trained to notice the little signs, just as he was.

Eliza's hand tightened on his arm. "This is personal for you, isn't it?" She peered up into his face. "Who?"

Harry felt his face begin to burn; he was that mortified. "This isn't personal. I've never even met an Obscurial before this Tournament started."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." She shook him a little, almost as if she expected answers to fall out of his mouth if she did so. "Who made you feel like that?"

Harry was unable to lie. Doing so would feel like he would be exonerating Vernon and Petunia for their poor treatment of him. Worse, he could not bottle up the sensation of fear the way he had when he first read of Obscurials and realised how close he had been to becoming one. All it took was an awareness of one's powers and heavy feelings of negativity towards using them. If it hadn't been for Remus' presence during his upbringing...

Well, Harry didn't like to think about what he could have become.

Mercifully, Cedric was there to snap them out of it. "Eliza! Enough!"

Eliza glanced back at him, outraged, but when he gestured towards her still-gripping hand, she quickly removed it from Harry's arm as though burnt. "Sorry, I didn't mean- did I hurt-?"

"No," Harry said shortly. Her reaction was the reason he had always refrained from telling anyone. Nothing was worse than having someone you respected, someone you wanted to respect you in turn, suddenly look at you as though you were a mistreated puppy. Strangely though, it made the prospect of fighting the Doubles World Champions seem trivial in comparison. "We'll deal with Kurai when we get to him. Right now, we should focus on Koldovstoretz."

There was a tense beat of silence before Cedric tried to diffuse it. "Well, you were the one who brought him up, but whatever."

Eliza rolled her eyes and sat down on the end of his bed. "Silver lining when it comes to getting humiliated in front of millions of witches and wizards around the world: you get a day to prepare for your next duel instead of having it dropped on you at the last second."

Harry felt like a prat for pointing it out, but it needed to be said. "The dark cloud of that silver lining: Koldovstoretz has had three days to prepare while we've been laid up here." He took the only available seat beside the bed, facing the other two.

"Look, I don't like being the kind of Hufflepuff that complains about fair play-" Cedric said, even though he did so quite often- "but this needs to be said. The fight against Kurai wasn't a normal duel. Head-to-head against any team here, I'd give us the edge every time."

Eliza's lips curled upwards slowly, almost against her will. "You might be a little biased."

Cedric didn't return her smile. "I promised you two that I'd stop whatever he threw at us. But I didn't." Harry and Eliza looked equally incredulous upon hearing that.

"You literally just said that wasn't a normal duel." Harry pointed out.

"But the next one will be." Cedric's wide eyes moved between Harry and Eliza, almost as though he were beseeching them to believe his next words. "I don't care what I have to do, or what happens to me, but not a single spell will touch either of you from now on. Not when I'm next to you." Harry didn't think he was talking about just the Triwizard. Eliza seemed to sense that as well.

"You can't promise that," she said softly.

"She's right. I get involved in a lot of dangerous crap and Eliza's a show-off." Harry quickly moved his legs to avoid her kick. "You can't save us from everything."

"I can try." Cedric's gaze was distant and Harry realised that his injuries in the last duel hadn't traumatised him as much as seeing his friends being hurt.

Eliza caught his eye. Without words, he knew they were thinking the same thing.

"We're not going to put you in a position where you could even do that," Eliza promised.

"Yeah, we'll be pulling our weight this time around," Harry added. "Besides, what makes you think it'll end up being a three-on-three?"

Cedric looked stumped. "I hadn't even thought of that." Eliza laughed and clapped him on the back. The morose atmosphere that had permeated the room had finally vanished.

"Let's hurry up and get a recording of the Uagadou-Koldovstoretz duel," Harry said, clapping his hands together. "We're still in this competition, but we won't be if we waste any more time."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"…it goes without saying that Koldovstoretz is the favourite to win," the well-dressed commentator said as constant footage of the semi-final duels played on a loop behind him and his colleague. "Not only have the Molotovs proven themselves over and over again in the Professional Duelling Leagues, but their captain, Konstantin, has shown himself to be the steadying force behind their team."

"He's a decent defensive specialist, I'll give you that," the witch next to him said. "But did you even watch that last duel? His quick defeat cost his team the fight. His presence messes with the twins' dynamic."

"Perhaps, but you have to agree Hogwarts is at a disadvantage here." The wizard insisted. "Apart from Potter's striking debut, they haven't managed to impress as much as the other Top 4 teams."

The commentating witch, a Hogwarts graduate herself, looked outraged. "They swept both preceding duels-!"

Harry switched the Odeon off with a wave of his wand. He felt less anxious than when he'd switched it on but much more annoyed. "I don't know why I expected that to make me feel better."

"Because you're delusional?" Eliza snorted. She was standing before the mirror, busy arranging her hair into the tight braid she preferred when duelling. When she was finally satisfied, she lowered her wand from her head and turned to face him. "It doesn't matter what they think."

"She's right," Cedric said from where he was lying on the breakroom's largest sofa with an arm slung over his eyes. "Not so long ago they were hailing you as the Great Uniter reborn after the Top 16 duels and now they don't even think you can crack the Top 3. They have the attention span of a Diricawl. They only care about the last thing they've seen."

"I actually meant that they would say anything to trick people into thinking they know what they're talking about to keep their jobs, but we reached the same conclusion, so whatever." Eliza shrugged.

"And I thought I was cynical." Harry smiled.

Eliza's eyes traced over him with the same concern she had worn since yesterday whenever she thought he wasn't looking. "Look, just do what I do. Try and remember what drove you so hard to come here in the first place."

Harry had been trying to do so since she'd first told him that the day before, but he was struggling to light the old fire in his heart. Even as they stepped out of the breakroom, he worried that Kurai's spear of black sand had torn out more than just blood and guts from him.

In fact, Harry didn't feel any of his typical pre-duel aggression. At least until they bumped into a familiar figure in the tunnels underneath the stadium.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Harry asked sharply.

Ekon Adebayo looked perfectly at home in the dim corridor. He was leaning back against the stone wall opposite their door and looked at them so languidly it was bordering on condescension. "I thought I would be polite and say goodbye before your Headmaster ushers you all home in shame." He sighed and shook his head with faux disappointment. "I haven't been able to give a proper farewell to all the other duds, so I decided to be proactive and do it before the duel this time around."

Harry was ready to draw his wand there and then, and Eliza appeared happy to join him, but Cedric was already ushering them forward. "We don't have time for this."

"And you had the nerve to call me useless," Ekon continued as they brushed past him, this time speaking directly to Harry. "If you had seen yourself skewered and flailing in the air…" he trailed off with a snort. "For a minute there, you had me convinced you could be one of us." With derisive laughter, he began to walk away in the other direction.

Harry stopped dead. He had no idea what Ekon meant by "one of us", but he got the gist of it by his tone alone. "Go ahead and keep running your mouth." His voice was quiet but in the silence of the corridor, his voice reverberated clearly off the bare stone walls. "But if you don't see me as a threat- see my team as a threat- we'll just take the Triwizard Cup from you and yours: the supposed favourites to win." He turned his head back to see that Ekon had stopped, and their eyes met. "And I'll be the one who steals the Championship right out from under you." Harry didn't bother waiting for a response and continued walking towards the arena floor without another word.

It took a few seconds, but Cedric and Eliza started moving again, hurrying to catch up with him. "Now there's the fire you've been missing." Eliza grinned and clapped his back. "But if you think you can beat me to get a shot at becoming Champion, you're out of your mind."

"I was always planning on beating you, Eliza." Harry smiled back at her. The familiar competitive sparks had reignited the fire in his chest. "I've never made a secret of it."

"Yeah, he's only mentioned it about two or three hundred times before," Cedric chuckled. "But we should really be focusing on our teamwork right now instead of how we can beat each other down."

"You're right." Eliza began flexing her fingers, and the familiar predatorial gleam was in her eyes. It was only then that Harry realised that she had been putting on a brave face. They all were. While the gloomy air had vanished yesterday, their competitive drive had all but vanished. If it wasn't for Ekon-

"I'm really happy I hate that guy so much," Harry said suddenly as they climbed the steps up into the arena. His abrupt words might have seemed out of place to anyone else, but his teammates just nodded. They understood him perfectly.

They were lucky Ekon was such a smug bastard.

As the Koldovstoretz Triumvirate was already in their box, they didn't have the chance to linger in theirs as they couldn't keep everyone waiting. Meeting Master Devereaux in the middle, they waited for him to draw out the Sickle for the coin toss. After he flipped it high into the air, both Team Captains made their calls.

"Heads!" Eliza called.

"Tails," Micah said quietly.

It came up heads. "Three-on-three," Eliza said immediately.

It was the first thing they had decided on yesterday after watching a recording of the Uagadou-Koldovstoretz duel. Duelling doubles would be the worst-case scenario. The Molotovs were the best in the world for a reason, but they stood a chance against them when it was full teams instead.

At least they hoped so.

Harry would have preferred a series of single duels, but he'd been swayed. During their planning stages, Cedric had shown a surprising level of faith in their dynamic as a Triumvirate, so much so that Harry, Eliza and even Moody were forced to go along with it.

After listening to the Devereaux go through the rules of the duel for the umpteenth time, both teams returned to their starting positions. Harry had to stop his muscles from coiling in anticipation as Devereaux walked off the arena floor and climbed behind his podium.

Everything that he'd worked towards over the last couple of years, everything his teammates had worked towards, would all be coming down to this. They would either squeak by and qualify for the Triwizard Tournament's Three Tasks, or they would miss their one chance by the barest of margins.

For some reason, this higher level of stress seemed to bring him greater focus.

Because duelling is what I most enjoy doing, Harry suddenly knew. He could feel his blackthorn wand- tamed and tempered after years of combat and training- briefly warm in his palm. It too yearned for another fight. I want to savour every second of it.

That realisation led to a genuine smile appearing on his face, one that was only matched by Andrei on the fair side of the arena. How many chances would he get to test his mettle against the very best duellists of his generation? This wasn't something to feel nervous over, but to relish instead.

When Devereaux called for the duel to begin, Harry felt greedy enough to devour this experience whole.

"BEGIN!"

Trusting his teammates to get the timing right, Harry jumped as high into the air as he could without resorting to enhancing his body and brought his knees up to his chest as he did so. He was only in the air for a moment, but that was enough time for Cedric to conjure a thin metal disc for him to land upon. However, before either it or he could touch the ground, Eliza was already launching him forward with a powerful Banishing Charm.

Having already tested this manoeuvre with his Cadet Squad, Harry thought he knew what to expect, but as talented as his best friends were, they were left in the dust when compared to Eliza's sheer power.

A grunt was forced from his mouth as he was launched across the arena and he felt his insides being pressed into his back. However, that wasn't enough to ruin his focus. Harry still managed to fuse his boots to the flying metal platform before gravity took hold. It was lucky he'd long since mastered nonverbal spellcasting because the slightest gap between lips while he'd been jumping led to streaks of spit being left in his wake from his reckless flight.

Cheeks rippling and vision blurring, Harry was unable to judge where his opponents were through his teary gaze, so it was lucky he could see with more than just his eyes. He made his move the very instant he sensed he was within range.

Reverte! Aeris! Geminio! Depulso! Depulso!

Of all the steps in their chosen strategy, this was by far the hardest. Harry felt both thrilled and terrified that Cedric and Eliza had left this in his hands.

The instant he crossed the pit's centre line, Harry undid the Fusion Spell and launched a bullet of compressed air at the ground to save himself from the platform's sheer velocity while also giving himself some breathing room. Even though his Compressed Air Charm had sent him in a vertical upwards spin, he still managed to duplicate the still-flying platform and banish them both towards Andrei and Micah.

Of course, they were far too experienced to not defend themselves instinctively even when caught off guard, but the Hogwarts Triumvirate had planned for that as well.

Even though the metal discs were blocked from reaching their targets by two powerful Shield Charms, it didn't prevent the Runic Complex that Cedric had built into them from activating. The only warning the Koldovstoretz team got was the briefest flash of gold from the triggered runes before their half of the duelling pit was overtaken by two immense explosions.

Having reached the apex of his upwards flight, Harry allowed gravity to take hold, smiling. He wondered, which did the spectators find more impressive? The fact that Harry had ridden a flying bomb? Or that they had managed to put their opponents in disarray in under five seconds?

Their entire strategy relied on separating the Koldovstoretz Triumvirate, as they didn't believe they could match them when it came to teamwork. As such, they had decided to steal Uagadou's strategy from the previous round and separate them. However, while Ekon and his teammates had only attempted this tactic once, and failed, the Hogwarts Triumvirate had decided to go for it from the very beginning of the duel.

The arena was overtaken by smoke and dust but, with Mage Sight, Harry could see Cedric and Eliza already moving to engage their targets. However, he didn't pay any attention to that. What concerned him was how his target was moving to aid his twin brother.

Carpe Retractum!

A glowing, golden lasso shot out from the end of his wand, and Harry whipped it towards his target. Even though he could have managed a similar but subtler result with his favoured Brachiabindo Jinx, he wanted to keep that under his hat for now and distract his target with something flashy instead. As the golden cord managed to get its hoop around his opponent, Harry tugged, pulling Stepan Molotov flying towards him.

Unfortunately, Harry was still falling from his earlier Compressed Air Charm. He and Stepan collided with each other in mid-air, rather painfully, and devolved into a clumsy tangle of limbs.

Harry, either because he had faster reflexes or was able to understand what was happening first, twisted them around so Stepan was on the bottom and thereby cushioned their landing. Repressing a wince of sympathy- as their momentum carried them closer to Hogwarts' starting position than the centre line and Stepan's face was rubbed raw against the ground because of it- Harry grabbed his wand arm and attempted to put him in a hold he couldn't escape from, but it seemed his opponent had the same hand-to-hand training he did. Stepan moved his wrist and elbow in the same thrashing motion that Captain Solace had taught him to break free.

Harry leapt off him, deciding it was better to be back on his feet than to get an elbow to the gut. That might have been a mistake as Stepan managed to avoid his two Stunning Spells while rolling onto his feet.

Harry was a little annoyed that he had lost the opportunity for a quick victory but reminded himself that things had gone according to plan. The Koldovstoretz Triumvirate were separated from one another. Unfortunately, Stepan seemed to sense the direction his thoughts had taken and sought to correct him.

"Do you truly believe that you are the first to separate me from my brother?" His expression was still stoic, but his tone was smug. "You're not the first, nor will you be the last. We always manage to tear through those who seek to separate us."

"Not always," Harry corrected, wanting to wind him up. "Or was it another pair of twins who just lost against Uagadou?" He got his wish, as Stepan's eyes seemed to flash, and his wand struck out to attack.

Just as he'd done with all of his opponents, Harry took the time to study Stepan Molotov to know what he was getting into. Well-rounded defence specialist, but only when he's with his brother, Harry remembered. Otherwise, he tends to lean heavily on transfiguration and conjuration rather than charms or martial spells. He's every bit as talented as Andrei, but he lacks his brother's ferocity.

Stepan proved him right almost immediately. He conjured a ram and had it charge directly at Harry. For his part, Harry could have done a multitude of things to not just stop the ram's attack but to use it against his opponent, but he settled for simply slashing it horizontally with a Severing Curse. Ignoring the splatter of blood and guts that was now seeping the ground between them, Stepan pressed forward with a shower of daggers that Harry quickly shielded against with a well-timed Ebubilo Jinx that sent the daggers scattering.

It went on like that for about half a minute, which was an eternity in a duel. Harry would cut down whatever live creature Stepan would send his way while vanishing anything inanimate so that it couldn't be used against him. The other boy's mounting frustration was clearly visible at this swapping of style, as Stepan was usually on defence while Harry had quickly grown a reputation during the prelims for being a reckless attacker. He must have realised that Harry was goading him into a trap, but he obviously couldn't see what that trap was. So, he resorted to pressing Harry further and further back to where his brother was duelling.

Harry only made his move when he sensed Cedric shoot out from behind his defensive wall to fire his first attack against Andrei.

Just as he'd predicted, Stepan hesitated when he saw his twin being attacked, but only for a split second. That was more than enough for Harry to take full advantage of.

Oppugno! Piertotum Locomotor! Carpe Noctem!

Stepan's eyes flashed back towards Harry when he finally sensed the younger boy casting spells for anything other than defence. However, the wand he'd raised instinctively seemed to falter when no spell made itself immediately obvious. His first clue to what Harry had done came from a ram's liver that struck him on the back of the head.

Ducking and examining his surroundings, Stepan seemed surprised at just how much ammunition he had inadvertently given his opponent. A bloody shower of animal limbs and organs launched themselves at him in a gruesome attack. Grimacing in disgust, he whipped his wand to vanish them but failed to notice the animated length of intestines that had wrapped themselves around his dominant arm.

There, with his wand trapped against his side and being pelted with bloody organs, Stepan should have made an easy target for his Nightmare Hex, but Harry had underestimated him.

Dropping to one knee, he managed to avoid the Nightmare Hex as well as the following Stunning Spell with a roll. As he did so, Stepan did something that Harry had never seen before. Without being able to move his wand a millimetre, he transfigured his arm into a reptilian-skinned monstrosity that tore through the intestines like tissue paper.

Stunned, Harry was slow to react when Stepan shot forward and swiped his facsimile of a dragon arm in a devastating uppercut that would have had him waking up in Lady Lestari's Hospital again. However, his years spent training proved themselves worthwhile then. His body instinctively leapt backwards while his thinking mind was still struggling to understand exactly how Stepan had pulled off self-transfiguration with neither incantation nor wand movement.

Harry hissed. While he'd managed to avoid having his jaw taken clean off, his duelling gear was all that had prevented Stepan from disembowelling him then and there. Still, even his enchanted clothes weren't enough to stop the three claw marks from being slashed across his torso.

Maybe I am fighting the more ferocious twin, Harry thought as he forced Stepan out of striking range with a Taser Charm. He was going to find out for sure, as just then Cedric called out, "Switch!"

Knowing that Cedric would only make that call if he saw no avenue for victory against his opponent, Harry immediately abandoned his duel against Stepan for his livelier twin. Looking only with Mage Sight, Harry flooded his body with Mana and leapt high into the air, backflipping to where he sensed Andrei flying on a conjured carpet.

Unfortunately, Andrei was just as capable in both Mage Sight and Body Enhancement techniques. He twisted on one heel and lashed out with his other leg, catching Harry in the chest just as he was about to land on the flying carpet.

Breath leaving his lungs upon the kick's impact, Harry was sent flying back in the direction he had leapt from. Feeling lucky that Cedric had already pressed Stepan back with a pack of wolves, Harry jabbed his wand at the flying carpet and cast Igniotempus! Then he stabbed it at the ground before he could hit it. Spongify!

While he could feel the intense heat of the firestorm he had fired at Andrei, he couldn't see it. He was too busy twisting his body around so he could land feet first. Keeping his legs tucked together and straightened out, Harry allowed the rubberised earth to almost swallow him whole before it sent him rocketing back in the direction he had come from.

Calor Vade! Now safely protected by the Flame-Freezing Charm, Harry shot right through the wall of fire before landing on the carpet not even three seconds after he had been kicked away from it. Not forgetting that Andrei was capable of seeing with more than just his eyes, Harry was prepared for the tiger that had already pounced towards him. He still had the Animation Charm from earlier up his sleeve.

The severed length of intestines that had wrapped around Stepan's arm a minute earlier were still long enough to loop around the tiger's thick neck and yank it right off the flying carpet. Taking advantage of Andrei's surprise (as he likely had no idea where those bits of animal guts had come from) Harry used his momentum to take two steps across the carpet's width and tackle his opponent right off its side.

With one knee pressed into his sternum, and his arms keeping Andrei's restrained and his wand well away from his person, Harry kept his body filled with coiled Mana to prevent any damage being done to himself. After all, falling from twenty feet and landing with all your weight on one knee seemed like a stupid way to knock himself out of the fight. But he didn't expect Andrei to realise what was happening as quickly as he did or protect himself the way he had.

Again, Harry had underestimated him.

Before they could even touch the ground, a bright amber Mana Cloak flared out from Andrei's body and shielded him from a devastating injury. Meanwhile, Harry was flung back into the air for the third time this duel alone, but against his will this time around. The only thing that protected him from being utterly crushed like a fly on a windshield was his own pre-enhanced body. Still, his knee was definitely dislocated and tears stung his eyes as he hit the ground and rolled across the arena floor.

Ligamenta Emendo! Torpere!

Not having the time to cast a Diagnostic Charm, Harry took his best guess at what was causing the pain in his leg and healed it as he rolled before casting a Numbing Curse at it. The way he saw it, as long as it wasn't caused by Dark Magic or was immediately life-threatening, then it wasn't important enough to let himself get distracted.

Absently taking note of how Cedric and Eliza switched opponents at the latter's request, Harry quickly rolled onto his feet when his momentum slowed and turned to face his opponent. Andrei was now entirely encased within a bright amber Combat Avatar that took on the shape of a cat. One giant paw stepped forward in Harry's direction, ready to pounce.

Had this been his first time going up against an opponent who was capable of such a feat, Harry might have faltered, but he was too experienced for that. Flicking his wand at the scattered daggers that Stepan had conjured against him earlier, Harry coated them in a layer of electricity and sent them flying at his enemy. Andrei merely stood there and took it as only the most powerful Martial Spells would be able to pierce his armour now.

But what he didn't know was the invisible spell Harry had added to the conjured blades.

Brachiabindo!

Harry trusted that the invisible cords would either be too thin for Andrei to see with his Mage Sight or that his sixth sense would be dampened by the Avatar he was within. If not, Harry hoped the flashiness of the crackling coat of electricity the blades were encased in would distract him from the real threat. As long as he doesn't notice the real attack, Harry thought, I can-

The giant, translucent cat brought his racing thoughts to a stop as it opened its mouth wide in pained, but silent shock. The invisible cords that kept the banished daggers attached to one another (the ones that hadn't shattered against the glowing armour anyway) wrapped around its neck much in the same way the intestines had against the tiger. The cat was pulled backwards, losing its balance, and its back hit the ground as the momentum of the banished daggers proved too much for it.

I can't believe that actually worked, Harry thought as his wand was already slashing in the air for his follow-up. I need to buy Moody something. That guy really knows his stuff.

During their Triwizard training, Harry had lamented his inability to fight Eliza's sparrowhawk Avatar, even if he had enough strength left to do so. Moody, in his usual blunt fashion, had told him off for whining before telling him their weakness.

Combat Avatars have a strong defence, he grunted. But there's no weight to it. Not unless you want to waste the Mana for it, and what's the point in that? It'll just slow you down.

Even though he had gone into this duel knowing that, Harry still couldn't believe it had been so easy to knock one off balance.

Fulgari!

Sizzling cords of electricity shot out the end of his wand and wrapped around the amber cat's limbs, keeping it securely on the ground. While any physical attack would be unable to pierce Andrei's armour, Harry just needed him to keep still long enough to land one of his favourite spells.

Not trusting the armour to hold his weight (as touching it could only give Andrei a method in which to attack him) Harry avoided climbing onto it. Instead, he jumped into the air once again and his augmented legs left cracks on the ground, he leapt with so much power. As he soared over the Combat Avatar, he took momentary pleasure in seeing Andrei on his back within the glowing confines of his armour and jabbed his wand right at him.

Carpe Noctem!

Harry hadn't held back one iota of power and the resulting Nightmare Hex was powerful enough to crack through the armour and shot directly at Andrei's unguarded chest. But his experience proved itself once again. He dropped the Avatar and the glowing construct evaporated in an instant. Andrei fell several feet and hit the ground, back first, amongst the scattered debris of conjured blades and squished animal guts. He still had the presence of mind to roll to avoid the Nightmare Hex that still chased after him. The jet of pitch-black light cracked the earth Andrei had landed on a split second earlier.

Harry swore under his breath. He flipped in mid-air so that he would land facing his opponent, but it was already too late. Andrei had conjured a spear made of blinding white energy- like sunlight took physical form- and fired it at him the instant his feet touched the ground.

Not having any idea what kind of spell this was- and therefore not knowing how he should defend against it- Harry took the first of two incredible gambles that could cost have cost him and his team their chance at the Triwizard Cup.

Trusting that the most powerful shield he knew would be able to protect him, Harry flicked his wand in front of himself. Aegis! Fianto Duri!

A large, silvery shield that had been emblazoned with a black crow shimmered into existence before him, just in time to take the blow for him. However, despite the shield being reinforced with the Unbreakable Charm, the spear's glowing tip still managed to pierce his clavicle. Harry roared in pain as the spear seemed to burn away everything that it touched before vanishing which, on the bright side, meant that it at least cauterised the wound it had caused meaning he wasn't at risk of blood loss.

Desperate now that his wand arm felt like it was hanging on by a thread, Harry resorted to the riskiest gamble yet. If this went the wrong way, he would be directly responsible for his team's loss.

Seeing that Andrei was already sprinting towards him at enhanced speeds to close the wide gap between them, Harry first banished his shield towards him before firing a Stunning Spell and then a Body-Bind Curse in its wake. The Stunning Spell intentionally went wild, and Harry hoped Andrei would chalk his poor aim down to his injured arm. The Body-Bind Curse hid in the shadow of the shield as though he were trying to hide it from his eyes.

Harry was done underestimating his opponent and completely expected him to see through and counter this little trick. But he planned for him to forget about the Stunning Spell.

The one he had sent in Eliza's direction.

Harry was vaguely aware of what was going on with his teammates. They had already accepted that they were likely to lose the overall duel should even one of them fall in the one-on-one fights they had planned. As such, they had agreed to switch opponents whenever one of them made that call, and remain constantly aware of what the others were up to in case they needed help.

That was why Harry fully expected Eliza to see the spell headed her way, and for her to understand what he needed her to do about it.

Come on, Harry pleaded with her silently as he already started running towards Andrei. If I was in your position, I'd see it coming, so that must mean you can too because you're more skilled than me, damn it! Even admitting that in the privacy of his own mind pissed him off. You have to see it coming. You have to! Come on, Eliza-!

Eliza seemed to read his mind.

Having just attacked Stepan with the golden fire of the Phoenix-Flame Charm, Eliza turned swiftly on her heel just as Harry's wayward Stunning Spell was about to fly past her. Using the Propulso Spell, she caught it with the tip of her wand and sent it rocketing towards Andrei's unsuspecting back before promptly turning back to her own duel.

Yes!

Harry felt utterly elated as he ran full pelt towards his opponent. He felt jealous of Andrei for a multitude of things- being raised within a family of famous Aurors or having incredible amounts of Mana to waste- but having a great team was no longer one of them. In his mind, his Triumvirate was now equal to the Molotov twins when it came to teamwork, any day of the week.

It was too difficult to vanish the shield as it had been charmed unbreakable, so Andrei instead diverted it with a Banishing Charm. Then he caught the Body-Bind Curse that had been flying in its shadow with the tip of his wand and flicked it back towards Harry. Just as Harry was raising his own wand for a Propulso Spell, he saw Andrei's eyes widen as he sensed the incoming Stunning Spell Eliza sent at his back.

Likely expecting it to be an opening attack from one of Harry's teammates- or not being able to afford to take the risk- he stopped and turned to block it, only to see both his still conscious teammates duelling Harry's own.

Blocking the spell, he spun on the spot and saw the Body-Bind Curse he had already flung back at Harry coming back at him with four times its initial speed due to the twice added Propulso Spell. Not having the room to dodge or the time to fling it back, Andrei used a Shield Charm to block the spell. Harry used the blue splash the Body-Bind Curse made against the dissipating shield to block his approach from Andrei's vision.

Coming in low, Harry swiped the tip of his wand against the ground and whipped it towards Andrei's face the instant it was visible. Formae! At his silent command, the earth became as malleable as putty and took the shape of a spear that shot towards the underside of Andrei's jaw.

But the talented bastard somehow managed to avoid that too.

Damn it! Harry internally cursed as Andrei tipped his head back without even looking at the earthen spear that flew an inch past his nose. Too desperate to go back to plotting another avenue towards victory (and far too exposed for a retreat) Harry kept his momentum and threw his full weight at Andrei once again. However, instead of tackling him this time, he grabbed hold of the other boy's wrists.

He immediately regretted this decision. Not only was Andrei taller than him, but this meant that he was holding his wand with only his thumb and forefinger on his right hand while the other three gripped his opponent's left wrist in a weak hold.

Still, it wasn't all bad. Andrei might've been taller than him but he was weedy. Also, he was forced to adjust the grip on his wand as well to keep Harry's left fist from striking at him. The result was a stalemate. The two each struggled to overpower the other physically but found themselves equally matched.

Perhaps because he realised how stupid they looked, or maybe because he was embarrassed to find himself physically matched by a boy three years his junior, but Andrei was the first to try and go for the win. The lines of his body seemed to shimmer before a second bright amber Combat Avatar exploded from his body, seeking to overwhelm Harry.

For his part, Harry knew he had to step up now or be forever remembered as The Boy-Who-Aimed-Too-High. Realising what was about to happen the instant he sensed Andrei begin to release massive amounts of energy, Harry dug in deep and focused on the handful of occasions he'd released his own Combat Avatar. Knowing that the best result had occurred the very first time he'd used it- when the desperate fear of loss had overwhelmed him- Harry drowned himself in that feeling now.

For over three years, Harry had spent every day honing his skill and increasing the power he had at his disposal. While he'd been trained to only use as much as he needed for any given spell, Harry forgot all of that now. The lid he had built over his well of power was blown off and more magic than he had ever used at once exploded out of his body.

Before he could be crushed beneath the weight of Andrei's giant, yellow cat, Harry's world was overtaken by purple as teeth and claws clashed against beak and talons. He couldn't see it clearly then, but when he would watch this duel later, he would admire how fiercely his amethyst crow fought against Andrei's amber cat.

There, in the centre of the arena, under the eyes of thousands of spectators and millions of viewers, Harry and Andrei grappled with one another as their Combat Avatars fought a vicious battle above and around them.

Already knowing that this was a contest of stamina that he couldn't win, Harry's eyes flickered towards his wand which was less than a foot away from Andrei's ear. Figuring that physical attacks wouldn't work, and Legilimency being a skill he hadn't spent much time learning, he only had one spell left that could work.

Muffliato! Harry safely muffled his ears before focusing on Andrei's face. Just as the older boy was blinking beads of sweat out of his eyes, Harry graced him with a strained smirk, just to rub it in. Before his opponent could do more than look confused, Harry verbally cast, "Depressi Tonituro!" to give it as much power as he could spare without his Avatar failing.

Harry was deaf to the world, and everyone outside the duelling pit was protected by the Barrier, but from what his teammates would later tell him, he had conjured the loudest thunderclap that any of them had ever heard, and they were on the edges of the duelling arena. For Andrei, whose ear was right beside Harry's wand, it was enough to make his knees crumple and his eyes roll into his head.

Dropping his Avatar the instant Andrei's evaporated, Harry hit him with a Stunning Spell just to be safe. Judging by the blood dripping from his left ear, he wouldn't have been in fighting form anytime soon anyway.

Breathing deeply, Harry returned his hearing before getting to work on healing himself. Since the duel began, he had acquired three claw marks across the chest, an injured knee and a spear wound to the collarbone. It took him twenty seconds to heal himself, which was a little longer than his usual time in the field, but he needed to take stock of how much power he had left, and he wasn't pleased with what he found.

By his estimate, he had enough for a handful of powerful spells. That was barely enough for a straightforward duel, and the Triwizard had proven to be anything but straightforward.

It's alright, Harry assured himself. I just have to play support for the others. They can take the lead and I can-

His train of thought came to an abrupt end when he finally took stock of the duels that had been going on around him. While Eliza stood triumphant over Stepan Molotov's unconscious body, she looked just as exhausted as he did, and Cedric-

Oh no.

Cedric was slumped on the ground at Micah's feet. His eyes were open and he was completely uninjured, but clearly out of it. Harry glanced at Eliza, wanting to follow her lead in this moment of confusion, but she was looking at Micah with a level of wariness he'd never expected to see upon her face.

Harry didn't understand. Micah wasn't the threat of the Koldovstoretz Triumvirate. In fact, Harry would go as far as to call him superfluous when compared to his more distinguished teammates. Annoyed with her hesitation, Harry started a running approach towards their last opponent and glanced at her as he did so. "Eliza, we need-!"

"Take point," she hissed. Harry, rarely one to be caught off guard these days, skidded to a stop in his surprise. He had never known Eliza to back down from a fight.

Taking his shock as an insult, the apprehension evaporated from her features and she turned to face Micah head-on. Eliza recklessly tossed a scarlet, sickle-shaped spell directly at Micah. The same spell Elissa Corner had used to kill Kitty Lawless and her Rogues during the fight in Camden.

Having seen first-hand what that spell could do, Harry gasped audibly. Then he sharply expelled that same breath when Micah caught the sickle with a hand that was protected by a translucent grey gauntlet.

As though he wasn't completely on the backfoot already, the release of even a part of Micah's Mana Cloak was enough to trigger something within him. Micah was losing control of his Shadow, thereby being the second opponent he'd faced in this Tournament who was capable of utilising Soul Magic.

It was equally as overwhelming as Kurai's was but where his Shadow had nothing but a predator's cold cruelty, Micah's felt hollow. He didn't care about them either way, not really, but this still left a single sensation ringing within Harry's head:

Danger.

His repeated series of hesitations gave Micah more than enough to time target a spell at him. Harry's instinctual fear left his limbs too stiff to dodge, so he simply raised his wand. Trusting the malicious nature he sensed from the spell meant that it was Dark Magic, he relied on the Anti-Martial Shield Charm to protect him. "Protego Horribilis!"

That proved to be a mistake.

Micah's sickly yellow spell moved through his shield as though it wasn't even there. It struck him dead centre in the chest and removed his mind from his body.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry's head felt groggy with sleep, so it took a minute for him to feel the hand shaking him awake.

"-Harry? Harry!" A little boy's voice repeated. He could hear him take a deep breath before shouting, "HARRY!"

"What?!" A tone filled with reflexive irritation he didn't truly feel came out of his mouth.

"What do you mean "What?" The boy replied snottily. "You're the one who asked for waffles this morning, but you're not even awake to eat them!" From underneath his covers, he could hear the boy huff and stomp out of the room.

The moment he was gone, Harry sat up in bed and observed his perfectly familiar surroundings. He was in his bedroom at the very top of Brightstone House, and all his things were as they should be. His eyes lingered on the framed photographs on the far wall that detailed his lifelong misadventures with his friends, but something about that made his brow furrow.

Why? A voice, one lighter than the motes of dust floating on the beam of morning sunlight asked. I've known Anthony, Terry and Michael my whole life. They might as well be my real brothers.

His feeling of disquiet faded with that last word, brothers, as thinking of his three best friends that way felt natural. He climbed out of bed and made his way downstairs where he could already smell breakfast cooking.

Maia snorted the moment she saw him. "You still look half-asleep," she helpfully informed him as she took a sip from her mug. The little boy from earlier snorted from where he was sitting beside his godmother at the breakfast table.

"No, he just always looks like an Inferius in the morning," he giggled.

Harry stared at him, taking in his black curls and familiar hazel eyes. He was certain he had never seen this little boy before, but he responded to his comment then as though he'd known him all his life. "I don't remember anyone asking your opinion, stupid." He flicked the boy's ear as he headed to the occupied stove.

"Be nice!" Remus scolded him on his way past. Harry only gave him a moody shrug in return.

"You're cooking?" He asked Nicolas curiously. "You never cook." He peered at the stovetop, half expecting to see some sort of experiment brewing, but all he found was a waffle iron.

Nicolas raised his eyebrows at him before returning his attention back to the golden-brown waffle. "What are you talking about? I always cook your favourites."

Harry frowned. The image of hundreds of healthy, bland breakfasts came to the forefront of his mind before vanishing. Now, all he could remember were the unhealthy, but lovingly prepared meals his mentor had made for him. "My mistake," he shrugged. "I just thought-" He was cut off when he heard another pair of footsteps descend the stairs in a hurry.

"Who's that?" He asked the room at large.

"Hmm?" Maia asked. She was distracted by the comic strips in today's Wizarding World News. "Oh, James has to go in early today. There's some sort of-"

Harry failed to hear the rest of her words as he had already run out of the kitchen.

He wasn't sure why he was in such a hurry to reach the fireplace first, as his parents being called in on their days off wasn't all that unusual, but he felt so desperate to do so that it almost frightened him. That was why he felt so crushed when all he saw was a glimpse of his father's silhouette as it was swallowed by emerald flames.

It's alright, an unfamiliar voice soothed. It was as insubstantial as the breeze that wafted through the open window. We'll see him later. He's not gone forever.

Yes, he is! Another voice insisted, this one louder and harsher. He's gone, swallowed up in flames he can't escape from, and I can't help him-!

Something about that image- of his father being enveloped by fire- cracked the serenity of this blissfully mundane morning. That crack became a shattering blow because of what followed.

"What are you doing standing there?" A warm voice asked. "It's waffle time!"

Before he could face them, a pair of hands clapped him on the shoulders and guided him back towards the kitchen. Harry turned his head and saw his mother in a bathrobe and slippers, her hair a mess, beaming up at him.

The sight of that smile forced him to remember the Mirror of Erised, and then he understood.

This isn't real, Harry told himself. He closed his eyes and ignored his mother's inquiring voice. I would never have come to live at Brightstone House if my parents were still alive. I don't have a brother, Nicolas doesn't coddle me, and I'm not some spoiled ungrateful brat. This isn't real!

And with that realisation, reality came crashing back down around him.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Harry managed to snap out of it before he toppled over, but he wasn't able to prevent the moan of despair that escaped his lips. It wasn't physical pain he felt, but something far more agonising. He had been presented with everything he had ever wanted and had to tear himself away.

Feeling intense heat on his face through his fading Flame-Freezing Charm, Harry finally took note of his surroundings. Eliza was standing a few feet in front of him, controlling another intense firestorm. He found her positioning odd, almost as though she were shielding him from some sort of threat-

Micah, he remembered, and he finally understood Eliza's earlier hesitation. The Wampus, Alia's dirty trick in the second round and her wariness in facing Micah. She had a weakness against illusion spells, and Cedric had gone down protecting her from whatever she was afraid to see.

But while he would normally feel concerned for his friend, all he could focus on now was the way his heart began to pound. His mouth started to taste coppery, almost as though blood was rushing up his throat like bile. He had never felt rage this potent before.

Likely sensing movement, Eliza glanced back at him. She started to warn him as he raised his wand. "Harry, don't-!" But it was already too late.

"Deprimo! Efosso!" Harry dropped down into the hole his spell formed and began tunnelling his way far underneath Eliza's fiery attack and to where he sensed Micah standing on the other side. However, he was so focused on his righteous rage that he forgot to take his former wariness of Micah's hidden power under consideration. After all, Captain Solace had told him:

Just because you know a high-level technique, don't assume your enemy doesn't know it too.

But Harry had forgotten this. He instead emerged from the ground with nothing but furious vengeance on his mind, which turned out to be a critical error.

Instead of finding Micah waiting for him on the surface, he saw a hundred tiny ball bearings falling from on high and about to land on him and all around him. Too angry to consider this might be a trap, Harry merely vanished them, but that failed to get rid of the potion that had been hidden within their hollow depths.

Harry only had the time to widen his eyes when he saw the balls of clear liquid, each no larger than a drop of rain, glow white in a way that he had seen only once before.

Erumpent Potion.

Lord Akingbade wasn't the only duellist that used potions in a fight.

Harry was so distracted by his imminent defeat, that he failed to notice a golden lasso wrapping around his waist. He was yanked out of danger in the nick of time.

Propelled by both the lasso and intensity of the explosion, Harry was sent much higher than Eliza had intended, though he swore to never give her grief over it as thanks for saving him. However, in her desperation to get him out of danger, she had flung him towards the Barrier, where the invisible wall met the high curve of the sloping dome.

Running on instinct, Harry flooded what little magic he had left into his body, strengthening his legs and core especially. Twisting himself in the air, Harry landed right foot first on the vertical wall, but instead of focusing on a soft landing, he pumped his legs and propelled himself upwards- one step, two, three, four- until he was all but running upside down on the top of the Barrier and protected from gravity with nothing but his enhanced speed.

It was only on the fifth step that he felt his momentum fail and gravity regain its hold on him, but that was fine. When he looked down, all he could see was Eliza weaving between Micah's spells and forcing him into exactly the right spot. Either she had guessed what he planned to do, or it had been her intention all along when she had flung him towards the Barrier.

Harry grinned viciously. He promised himself that he would never again say anything bad about her ability to work as part of a team.

Leaving himself with only the barest traces of Mana- just enough for a single spell- he released the rest of it into his body. He augmented his legs to such a degree that the top of the Barrier cracked when he kicked off it. He rocketed down towards Micah with enough speed to make the world around him blur and he had to squint to see.

Just one spell, he told himself. He coiled his wand arm as though he were about to do a tennis backhand. Make it count!

"SANGUIS URERE!"

An incredible sword made of violet flames erupted into existence and his wand was its hilt. Harry didn't bother keeping his voice down with the incantation, because if a stealthy approach was what he wanted, he would have cast the spell nonverbally. No, he wanted all of Micah's attention on him and the sword of inextinguishable fire he was levelling at the side of his neck.

And just like he expected, Micah sensed his approach and leapt out of the way.

Harry was already committed to his motion, so when his fire sword struck the earth and rippled out in every direction in waves, he had nothing left to save him from hitting the ground knees and swinging arm first. At first, he felt no pain and wasn't even aware of the extent of his injuries, so he was able to see the rest of the duel play out.

Though it ended very quickly.

As Micah rolled out of the way of Harry's swing, Eliza fired two spells, the first of which flew out of sight while her opponent was still in the middle of his roll and the second was hidden by the high, rippling waves of purple fire.

However, Micah was still in top form. He managed to evade the binding cords of electricity even before they burst through the wall of fire. He came up on one knee and extended his wand arm from his body for a counterattack, but that was his downfall.

That extended arm made for an excellent target.

Eliza's first spell, another red sickle, came zipping back around like a boomerang and sliced Micah's arm off cleanly at the elbow, cauterising the wound as it went.

Even though he knew it was wrong, Harry smiled. His enemy's anguished screams felt like music to his ears. However, he quickly felt the karmic retribution kick in for that as the repercussions of his final attack finally hit him.

To say that he felt pain would be an understatement. His kneecaps had shattered and what little remained intact was forced out the back, piercing through the skin. His hips and chest were hurting in that familiar way that meant broken bones, and even though his wand arm felt just as injured, he felt momentary relief when his blackthorn wand flared with heat, as it was pleased to experience another hard duel. For a second, he honestly thought he'd broken it with his poor landing.

He groaned in agony when he felt his bones knit themselves back together and pop into place before gentle hands turned him over. Expecting the face of a concerned Healer, he was surprised to see a grinning Eliza instead.

"Good news all around today," she said happily. "Not only did we win, but that fire you kicked off blocked everyone else from seeing your suicidal landing."

Harry was pleased to hear it. He hadn't even considered how it might look to all the spectators present and at home. His family and friends would have been needlessly concerned. "Wait," he said as he let her help him to his feet. "Everyone else?"

Eliza's smile somehow got even wider. "I hope you do become Magister. Imagine the killing I'd make by selling the memory of your brutal landing." She laughed at his groan.

"What did I miss?" Cedric asked. He was hobbling over from his Healer, looking just as exhausted as Harry felt.

"You missed-" Eliza started before Harry cut her off.

"You missed the end of the duel!" Harry interrupted, sending her a reproachful look that had no effect on her.

"No need to rub it in," Cedric sighed. "Besides, I kept my promise. I protected-"

"-our chances at victory!" Eliza interrupted, likely not wanting to admit her particular vulnerability to illusion spells.

Harry smiled mischievously at her, but he let it go without comment. She had come through for him three times in this duel alone, so it was the least he could do. "We made it," he said, only just realising. "We're in the Triwizard Tournament!"

"And you'd better win the whole damn thing," Andrei said sharply as he stomped over to them. "Losing is bad enough, but losing to a runner-up is too excruciating to think about."

Neither of his teammates seemed to know what to say to this interruption, but Harry was happy to speak on their behalf. "Don't worry," he assured his defeated opponent. "We came here to win the whole damn thing."

"Good, then you should enjoy your moment while it lasts." He gestured towards the crowds of spectators who were standing, clapping, cheering and stamping their feet to show their approval of the duel they had just witnessed. Some of them were even firing fireworks from their wands, launching them into the sky through the open roof and where they exploded into beautiful displays. Andrei turned and began walking back to his waiting teammates, but he had one last threat to make. "Because I'm going to snap you like a twig the next time we fight, Potter."

Harry's smile widened and he waved even though Andrei wasn't facing him. "Okay, sure! I look forward to it!" He then turned to Eliza with a smirk. "A Duelling World Champion sees me as someone to beat." It was a simple enough statement, but one that had Eliza grinding her teeth with envy.

"I beat a Molotov too!"

"Yeah, but he doesn't seem all that bothered with you, does he?" Harry was right. Stepan Molotov looked as unaffected as ever as he waited for his twin to join him.

"Come on!" Cedric hastily interrupted before they could start arguing before the eyes of the world. "We need to get ready for the Selection Ceremony!" He quickly ushered them to their box and the breakroom beyond where both Dumbledore and Moody were waiting for them.

"Spectacular!" The Headmaster clapped as soon as he saw them, rising from his seat to do so. "Bravo! What a performance!"

In contrast, Moody showed that even in victory he was critical. "Diggory! Hawthorn!" He snapped. The two in question reflexively snapped to attention even though they were off duty. "When we get back I'll be teaching you how to resist illusion spells, is that clear?" When they both nodded stiffly, he turned to Harry. "What the Bedlam was that landing, Potter? You can't win if you're dead!"

"How'd you even see that?"

"Do you think I wear this just for show?" He gestured to his large electric-blue eye.

"I kind of did," Harry admitted. "Anyway, I was fine!"

"Your knees were facing the other way!" Moody snapped. "It's a wonder you can even walk! After the Selection Ceremony, I want a proper Healer to come and examine you before we leave. Understood?"

Knowing it wasn't a request, Harry just sighed and said, "Yes, coach."

Dumbledore had been chuckling under his breath the entire time but sobered when they all turned their attention to him. "I must say it again: excellent job today. The other headteachers will think twice before underestimating Hogwarts ever again!" With that and a quick click of his heels, the Headmaster swept out of the room with his sparkling silver robes trailing after him.

Moody shook his head at Dumbledore's behaviour. "Stay here, clean up and rest. I'll have an Automaton bring your ceremonial gear to you when it's time." He paused at the door and muttered, "Good job," before stomping out of the room.

"Praise from Mad-Eye Moody," Cedric whistled. "We really did do something impressive today."

"We?" Eliza snorted. "I took down Stepan Molotov and Konstantin. Even Harry defeated Andrei. Who did you beat?"

Cedric gasped in outrage. "I saved you! You wouldn't have even beaten one of them if I hadn't seen how Konstantin had you trapped in an illusion at the beginning of the duel. Harry, tell her!"

But Harry was already stumbling over to his bunk. Now that the post-duel excitement was over, the repercussions were starting to catch up to him as his remaining energy depleted. Eyes already closed, he tipped over and fell onto the bed above the covers and was asleep in a matter of moments.

He fell into a deep slumber for the next few hours, but it wasn't enough to feel rested, so he felt a little grumpy when the Automaton woke him up. Harry had a quick shower before donning his ceremonial armour, taking care to charm his hair before exiting the bathroom. He didn't want his teammates to see how unkempt it was without his usual Hair-Styling Charm.

"Done primping?" Eliza asked waspishly. She sat before the Odeon with her feet propped up on the coffee table.

"Yes. I even shaved. Something I see you neglected."

"What?"

"Just because you're blonde doesn't mean we can't see it." Harry brushed a finger over his upper lip. Eliza gasped in outrage. Cedric cut her off before she could respond.

"Enough about Eliza's poor grooming," he said calmly, ignoring his sister's shout of protest. "We need to get going."

"I don't have a moustache," Eliza muttered darkly as they stepped out of the breakroom and into the tunnel. Both Moody and Dumbledore, who were waiting for them, gave her an odd look. "What? I don't!"

"If you say so, my dear," Dumbledore said amicably. Eliza gave a muffled little scream while Harry and Cedric cracked up in silence behind her back. The Headmaster continued as if he didn't notice. "As third-place victors, you will be called upon first to the podium. Please remember that the media will be looking for any sign of discontent with your ranking, so try and remained dignified." He gave Eliza the side eye at that, and her expression of indignation almost made Harry crack.

"I'm always dignified," Eliza muttered the moment Dumbledore and Moody were out of earshot. Cedric caught his eye and Harry could no longer hold it in. He burst out laughing and the older boy immediately joined in. "I hate you guys," she huffed before stomping away towards the arena floor.

They managed to calm themselves down quickly enough and caught up to Eliza at the mouth of the tunnel where they found a very different arena.

The packed earth had either been removed or paved over. The surface of the arena floor was now paved with dark, glossy flagstones that reflected the flickering light of the burning torches along the walls. The stadium's high ceiling was still open, but even the illumination of the full moon was dimmed by the firework display that erupted into the shape of all four Hogwarts Houses before merging into their school crest. But perhaps the biggest difference was all the people who were waiting for them.

It took Harry a minute to recognise them as fans.

They were all standing behind two lengths of velvet rope that ran the length of the arena and were being held back by the local Custodians. As Harry and Cedric followed Eliza down the path that had been paved for them, the people in the front who were standing at the ropes reached out to them as they passed and shouted praises as they went.

Harry had been lauded by his peers after Quidditch games and Sentinel duels, but never by adults. It was a novel experience.

When they finally reached the podium that was at the centre of the arena, a waiting Devereaux guided them to stand on the lowest platform where the Hogwarts banner was levitating above. It was only when he saw that the other two platforms were on the same level did he feel a moment of irritation pierce through his relief at having made it this far.

As both Uagadou and Mahoutokoro had chosen to forgo their right to a duel to decide the Top 2 rankings going into the Tournament proper (which was quite common, and the opposite was seen as the odd choice) it looked as though both teams were of equal strength but superior to Hogwarts. Even though Harry's rational mind knew it was only arbitrary, as rankings going into the Three Tasks hardly mattered, it was still enough to rattle him.

When both the Uagadou and Mahoutokoro teams walked out of the tunnel and towards the podium, he swore that he would be the one to stand on the middle platform on New Year's. Ekon's gloating smirk did nothing but encourage him.

Of the nine people standing on the podium now, exulting in the glory of having made it this far, Harry knew he would be the one who climbed to the very top. There was no other option for him.

"Please join me in congratulating all of this year's participating teams," Devereaux announced in his magically enhanced voice. He paused for a moment to allow the crowd to applaud politely before continuing. "And now a hand for our three Triumvirates!" The spectators were much louder then, some of them screaming and shouting to make themselves heard. "Three teams! Three tasks! But only one can win, and from that school, a new Triwizard Champion! I can hardly wait! Can you?"

The answering cry from the crowd let Harry know he wasn't the only one itching to get to the First Task.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The Hogwarts Express flew back to Scotland much faster than it had the previous week. He found himself standing on the platform of Hogsmeade Station much sooner than he would have thought.

The sky was rapidly darkening, but he would have expected a greater turnout for the returning heroes. Only six people were standing on the platform when they departed the train. Still, he could never be all that upset when seeing his best friends waiting for him.

"Good job not embarrassing us!" Terry greeted as he hurried towards him. He then brusquely added, "I was worried we'd be facing another Hogwarts defeat when you got shish-kebabed by that Obscurial." His words weren't sensitive in the least, but Harry knew he cared by how tightly he hugged him.

Michael cuffed him on the back of the head. "Didn't we tell you to be careful?"

"I didn't ask to get stabbed, you prat!"

"Nobody asks for it," Anthony rolled his eyes. "But you practically ran headfirst into it."

"I resent that-" Harry's protest was cut off when Anthony and Michael joined in on the hug and squeezed the air from his lungs. They only released him when Professor Flitwick called for them.

"Hurry now, boys!" Their Head of House shouted, already at the station entrance. "We mustn't be left behind."

The four let go of each other and hurried to join the professor in a carriage back to school. Before he climbed aboard, Harry spared a sympathetic glance at the other carriage that had already departed. Apart from their Heads of Houses, no one else had come to greet them at the station. That wasn't all that unexpected for Eliza, who wasn't the type of person to make friends easily, but he had at least thought the other Marauders would have shown up for Cedric or even the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

The reason for this absence was made clear when they stepped into the Great Hall.

"SURPRISE!"

The sudden roar of the entire student body and staff was so loud that Harry almost had to clap his hands over his ears. His friends started laughing when they saw his stunned expression.

"I told Professor Flitwick that we had to come and meet you on the platform," Anthony explained, chuckling. "Otherwise, you'd figure out that we were planning something."

"Good call." Harry smiled, resisting the urge to put a hand over his heart. His friends would never let such a display of emotion pass without comment.

The Great Hall had clearly been decorated by Gryffindor House. He knew this- not because they were the winners of last year's House Cup and therefore in charge of social events- but because only Fred and George Weasley would think having a swamp in the middle of the hall was a good idea.

"No one can remove it," Maria would tell him later, laughing as she rowed him and Eddie across on a raft. "So, we just have to work around it."

The torches that normally illuminated the hall remained unlit, so the only source of light came from hundreds of tiny, crackling sparks that zipped around overhead and exploded randomly before changing colours. The house banners that usually hung on the walls had been removed and in their place was a moving mural detailing the events of the Triwizard Preliminary Rounds, but the Triumvirate were represented by their House animals. Harry only figured this out when he saw a bronze eagle swoop down with a sword made of purple flames gripped in its claws.

"Come on!" Terry urged, running into the hall without looking back. Anthony quickly followed, but Michael hung back when he saw Harry hesitate.

"What's wrong?" He asked, before following Harry's gaze towards an approaching Nicolas. As though sensing his need for privacy, Michael hurried off without another word.

When his master stopped in front of him, Harry wanted to greet him with an easy-going comment to show his lack of concern. Instead, all he could say was, "So…?"

Nicolas paused, and Harry's stomach began to sink, but then he said, "You did well. Very well." The tension left Harry's shoulders. Maybe that was why Nicolas added, "But we still have work to do."

Harry nodded as he thought of Kurai, Ekon, and Eliza, and how far ahead of him they were. "Yeah, we do."

"But that's Monday's problem," Nicolas said cheerfully. "Take the weekend. Enjoy yourself." He turned to leave the hall.

"You aren't staying?"

"Well, I would, but I promised I'd meet Illyana for a quick-"

Harry cut him off. "Argh, I don't need to know." Nicolas chuckled as he departed. Shaking his head, Harry made to hurry after his friends but paused when he saw Lisa moving through the crowd towards him. He knew he was going to have to confront her sooner or later, and he no longer had the looming preliminary rounds as an excuse. But he still took the coward's way out and pretended he didn't see her. He slipped through the throng of celebrating students to get away from her.

The party was so much fun that he didn't even have the time to feel guilty over ditching his girlfriend, no matter how technical that description now was.

The party carried on well into the early hours of the morning, and the teachers hadn't even tried to send the students to bed, they were that happy with the ranking their Triumvirate achieved.

Classes were cancelled the next day to give the students a three-day weekend. Almost everyone slept in and skipped breakfast in favour of lunch. Harry was so tired that he showed up an hour late even for that.

Poking his head into the Great Hall, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Ravenclaw Table was a Lisa-free zone and sat down at his usual spot. Things continued to go his way when Argos delivered that day's edition of Wizarding World News without any of his usual misbehaviour and Harry let him nibble at the table's bacon as a reward. His attention was quickly diverted from his mercurial owl when he saw his face on the front page.

The picture on the front page was in black and white and flashed between himself, Ekon, Andrei and Kurai. When compared to Ekon's sullen expression, Andrei's manic look and Kurai's moment of anger during their duel, he didn't think he looked that bad. He appeared indifferent, almost bored. The article read:

CURSED OR EXTRAORDINARY? A GENERATION OF TITANS.

By T. Humphrey

The already infamous declaration from Micah Konstantin about his "cursed" teammates and rivals continued to prove true for the final qualifying duel of the Triwizard Tournament. The Hogwarts vs Koldovstoretz clash has been lauded as nothing less than extraordinary by both seasoned commentators and everyday spectators.

With this and Lord Akingbade sanctioning the Obscurial's inclusion in the Tournament, this year's line-up has already proven itself exceptional. As the Coach of the Castleobruxo Triumvirate insisted after his team's loss, "Any of the teams in the Top 8 would have won the whole thing in another year."

This is a popular sentiment. Many professionals have commented that having two or three powerful individuals is common for the Triwizard Tournament, as it aligns with the number of students who go on to the Magisterium to become Sages in time. However, as many as seven exceptional students have been identified this year, which doesn't even include those who may have been knocked out of the running by someone of equal strength.

A handful have already proven themselves to be generational talents. Ekon Adebayo, 17, is a direct descendant of the Red King and a Top 16 Professional Duellist. Andrei and Stepan Molotov, both 17, are the twin sons of Russia's Auror Commander and became Duelling Doubles World Champions in August. Henry Potter, 14, is the son of the honoured James and Lily Potter and the youngest recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal for his exemplary actions during the Attack on the Patagonian Encampment.

However, it is the inclusion of the Obscurial, Mahoutokoro Fifth Year Kurai Ikari, 15, who has made witches and wizards the world over wary. His very existence goes against all known knowledge of his kind, as Obscurials are known to perish before their hosts reach the age of ten. As healthy and powerful as he is, Ikari is something no Beast Master has any knowledge of.

"At the end of the day, it must be remembered that Ikari is still a human being," Beast Master and renowned Magizoologist, Newt Scamander, 97, told Wizarding World News. "However, caution is always necessary when dealing with an Obscurus. This is a dark force- a parasite- living within a child. He cannot and should not be held responsible for its actions." When pressed about Ikari's fine control over said parasite, Scamander admitted, "I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before."

It then must be asked if his existence is a harbinger of some greater threat. Around the world, Scholars of Divination have been reporting murky futures for over three years now. It should be noted that the last time this occurred was shortly before the rise of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the advent of the Sixth Great Wizarding War.

Is it possible that the emergence of so many young powerful sorcerers in a single Triwizard Tournament is just a coincidence? Or is it as so many now fear? That a generation of uncontrollable Titans, behemoths in the Esoteric Arts, are being reared underneath our very noses? After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's true identity is still unknown and he emerged out of nowhere with powers never seen before.

Just how close of an eye does the ICW keep on the development of young students? Is the next Dark Sage to threaten our world simply getting ready to announce themselves? Or have they already graced the screens of our Odeons, proudly wearing the colours of their school? Are these children cursed or extraordinary? It remains to be seen, but either way, we must watch closely.

Harry sighed when he reached the end of the blatantly fearmongering article. He already knew that there would be plenty of people willing to believe the worst with the slightest of provocations. Looking up from the newspaper, he could already see a couple of inquiring glances being thrown his way.

Well, I suppose it's my fault for thinking my luck could last, Harry thought.

His turn of fortune was quickly confirmed when a pair of familiar arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders from behind.

"Harry!" Lisa gave him an embarrassingly loud smooch on the cheek. "Where have you been hiding?"

Why does my luck have to turn bad all at once? Harry wondered despairingly. Why can't it go bad in increments?