Chapter 38

The next few days blurred ahead in a fixed routine for Harry. And contrary to his expectations, the rumor mill did not spread the news of the thrashing he'd delivered to McLaggen. Apparently Wood was doing his best to keep the matter all hush hush and avoid trouble for Harry.

Something he appreciated.

His magical studies, on the other hand, continued at a fast pace, and his spell repertoire increased with each passing day. By now he had no doubts that he'd be done with the second year syllabus this very month.

Magical Skills-

Occlumency (Lvl 17)

Mana Sense (Lvl 25)

Mana Manipulation (Lvl 47)

Charms (16)

Transfiguration (2)

Potions (2)

Dark Arts (9)

His Charms and Dark Arts repertoire made up the bulk of his spells, seeming to leave the other subjects in the dust. But in reality, most of these spells were quite lackluster. There were almost half a dozen utterly useless spells that he would very likely never use.

Locomotor Wibbly, for instance, turned an opponent's legs to jelly in order to incapacitate them. But why would he waste his time in pronouncing a six syllable spell when he could just shoot a quick Stupefy? Same thing for Petrificus Totalus, Alarte Ascendare, or Locomotor Mortis. Sure, there was a chance that at level 100 they might grant him some absurdly overpowered ability, but he simply did not have the time or patience for that. Not right now. He had much more vital tasks to complete.

For instance, the Junior Dueling Tournament, which soon started officially. There was to be a total of 7 rounds, with all 128 participants competing. That morning, the first round matches were written on the notice boards for all to see. Harry's opponent turned out to be a third year Ravenclaw named Roger Davies.

"Opponents?" Harry asked his group.

"Daphne Greengrass." Ron groaned. "We saw her duel last time. I don't think I'll win this."

"But you will still try?" Harry asked, a brow raised.

"Of course, mate! I remember my lesson alright."

"My opponent is Cormac McLaggen." Andrea announced. "You guys know who that is?"

Ron snickered. "Oh, we know alright. And I'm sure he'll remember your name Harry. You did beat up his brother."

Harry raised a brow. "Cormac McLaggen…the one who gave Keeper's trial?"

"Yeah, and he somehow saved the highest goals." Ron grouched. "I bet he cheated."

They turned to Hermione but the girl left them with an upturned nose, without speaking a word. Neville looked after her uncertainly but decided to stick with them.

Harry shrugged, unconcerned.

"Come." He beckoned his group, "Let's eat some food. We will need it for today."

When they reached the Great Hall, he didn't see his midget twin at the table, or any Slytherins for that matter.

'Probably still checking their own list.'

"Heyya Harrykins."

"Hello there, Your Majesty."

Twin voices spoke out one after the other. He didn't stop piling his plate with food as Fred and George took seats in front of them.

"Heard you are entering the tournament." The left twin started.

"And as your obedient slaves, it is our duty to inform you of some things." The right one continued.

"Well said, Gred." Left one patted the right one. "Lord Harry-Who-Lived can count on us for anything he needs."

"Quite right, brother dear." Right one nodded proudly.

Unimpressed, Harry took a quick glance at their names to confirm their identity. "Go on then. Fill my ears with your wisdom."

Both of them lost their goofy smiles, leaning forward in a moment of seriousness.

"The first thing you need to know about this tournament is that it's very important." Fred said.

"Not in itself, of course." George took over. "It doesn't matter if you win or lose in this tournament."

"But," Fred cut in. "Your future will depend on which team you are selected in."

"That is, if you actually do get selected."

Harry gave them a half-lidded stare. "Explain from the beginning."

"Of course, Your majesty." Fred smirked. "Lupin probably told you, but the dueling tournaments are divided in two parts; one for Juniors, which you will take part in today, and another for Seniors, which is the most important."

George leaned forward. "You see, senior dueling doesn't involve just one-on-one matches. You fight in a team."

Fred took over. "A total of twenty teams participate in a year-long tournament, where the first place prize is the full access to the greatest–"

"The grandest–"

"The most amazing–"

"One and only..."

And then both stood up, spreading their hands wide in air.

"The Room of Requirement." Both uttered in perfect synchronization.

As soon as he heard the name, his thoughts jumped to the dungeons.

'But surely not...'

The twins sat down again, looking as excited as playful puppies.

"A room that could change into anything you want,"

"Could become anything you need,"

"Could help locate your deepest wish..."

"And help you fulfill it to completion!"

Harry suppressed his rising expectations, clearing his throat to ask the most vital question. "Who made it?"

The question caught the two off-guard. "Pardon, Majesty?"

"The creator. Which founder created it?"

"Well...I think Ravenclaw...they always whine about the room being their 'house-right'. Why does it matter?"

This has to be it. This room...it ticked off all the points. He'd always thought the dungeons would be somewhere completely secretive, away from public eyes and all that. But that was foolish. The system never specified anything like that.

"How do you enter it?"

"Like we said, it is exclusive to only the winning team."

"Not even teachers are allowed to enter."

"The Minister made that rule when he was still a headmaster here."

"And how do you get in a team?" Harry asked, now at the edge of his seat.

"That, little Majesty, is why we are here."

"You see, we've been thinking of creating a team of our own,"

"And it's looking fantastic till now."

"He, me, Angelina, Alicia, Katie–"

"And of course, our dear leader, Wood."

"We're just missing a single member."

"Seven are needed to create a team, you see?"

"Normally members are invited by evaluating students through junior dueling tournaments."

"But we are willing to make an exception. See, we thought why not complete our quidditch team and just invite you in."

"And of course because you took down McLaggen like a child."

"Even though that was pure muggle fighting."

"Still very impressive."

"Oh yes, very."

That... was quite a bit to take in.

"Hey, how come you're not inviting me?" Ron suddenly whined from the side.

"Oh, Ronnikins."

"All grown up and itching to fight."

"But you still have a little more growing up to do."

"A little more hairs,"

"A little more freckles,"

"A little more cheek,"

"And a little more chuckles."

The twins laughed away together, leaving their smaller brother red with confused anger.

"Think about our offer, Harrykins!" They called out.

"We'll see you later, Your majesty!"

After the twins drifted away, they proceeded with the rest of their day as usual. Snape took a surprise Occlumency lesson, and Harry was able to level up the skill once more.

Occlumency, he'd come to realize, was a much more useful ability than he'd thought at first. Perhaps even as useful as Legilimency—which had always been his main goal of practicing the Mind Arts.

Not only could Occlumency perform the usual tasks of his Gamer's Mind—maximizing concentration, shielding the mind etc—but it can also grant an almost perfect memory once mastered. Plus, it didn't suppress emotions like Gamer's Mind. It just controlled them to an extreme degree, which further helped in fueling one's spell with intent and emotions.

Unfortunately, even at level 18, he still couldn't enter his own mind like Snape described.

But the thoughts of Occlumency soon left his mind when the last class of the day ended.

It was time for some wand combat.

The Dueling Tournament was held, once again, in the Great Hall. Only this time, instead of a thin & long platform, there was a ten meters wide square-shaped stage marked with exotic signs that emitted magic.

Lupin called them 'Runes', made for the protection of spectators from any wild spell.

Once again the four house benches were removed, and replacing them was a curved line of seats surrounding the stage, numerous enough to accommodate all the participants and other spectators. Unfortunately, it was compulsory for the participants to sit according to their houses, preventing him from dragging his sister over.

More than a hundred people were gathered in the Great Hall when they entered, crowding around the main stage like ants around a cube of sugar. A very massive cube of sugar.

"There's no way for us to win the tournament, is there?" Ron asked, disheartened. "All those third years would whoop our arses."

"Not mine." Andrea proclaimed proudly. "My dad's been teaching me to fight since I was seven. These boys and girls wouldn't know what hit 'em."

"What do you mean, teach you?" Ron asked, confused. "We aren't allowed to use a wand till Hogwarts."

The change from loud-mouthed bravado to wide-eyed guilt on Andrea's face got a snort out of Harry.

"That was very reckless of your father." Hermione's admonishing voice suddenly broke out from behind. "And unfair to muggleborns."

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" Andrea snapped, annoyed. "Please, don't start now. It's better that way."

"Silence." Harry cut off Hermione's retort as Lupin took the stage, Snape and Flitwick by his side.

"Everyone's here? No one's backing away? Good, good. The names I call will quickly join me on stage. I, along with Professors Flitwick and Snape, will be refereeing for this event. Just some instructions that you all must abide by, before we start this event—"

He twirled his wand mid-speech, and his following words started materializing mid-air in glowing orange flashes beside him.

"First, you and your opponent shall duel for three rounds, and each time the winner will earn a single point. The one with the most points shall win the match."

"Second, if you lose your wand, you will lose the round. If you are incapacitated for more than five seconds, you lose the round. If you are knocked unconscious, you lose the round. And of course, if I say you lose the round, you lose the round."

"Third, when I call for the match to end, you will instantly stop attacking. Anyone found attacking a downed opponent will be disqualified immediately. Now with that said, let's start this year's Junior Dueling Tournament!"

The first match was between Cedric Diggory of Hufflepuff and Graham Montague of Slytherin, and Harry was quite interested to see the senior students fight.

Graham Montague

Age: 12

Level: 15

Cedric Diggory

Age: 13

Level: 24

From the start, it became clear that both the Duelers were on an entirely different level than the first years. Graham opened the fight with a Knockback Jinx, showing his practice with the spell as he cast it with no extra wand movements.

Diggory seemed utterly unconcerned however, calmly leaning forward to let the spell fly overhead.

"Expelliarmus!" Graham tried to keep up the pressure, firing the jet of red with deadly accuracy.

However, Diggory's form was impeccable. He quickly leaned away again, his movements short and precise.

And then he bellowed, casting a spell for the first time, "Stupefy!"

The jet of red flew towards Montague faster than anything he'd cast. The boy tried to imitate Diggory, but even as he dodged the spell, Harry could spot the imperfections in his form—his balance shaky and feet barely keeping from a stumble. While definitely above any first year, Montague looked quite a novice in this match. Diggory had a clear upper hand from the start.

And yet, Harry remained a little…unimpressed. While both showed a clearly superior mastery of spells, he was hoping to see some more movement from the senior students. And yet, they stayed stuck to their stop like stationary targets.

That became even clearer in their next few exchanges. While both of them weaved around the spells with practiced movements—and Montague was definitely being put on defense—the entire duel took place on a thin strip of the stage, making the rest redundant. Neither of them moved from their place aside from a stumble or two, almost like they didn't know how to move while dueling.

Either that, or there was some obscure dueling rule to restrict the participants movements that Harry hadn't bothered reading.

The first round soon came to an end when Diggory launched a series of spells rapidly.

"Stupefy–Flippendo–Diffindo–Discutio!"

The barrage of spells came to a sudden end when the last spell managed to pop open Montague's Protego shield—which he'd created to not be overwhelmed by Diggory's rapid casting—like a balloon.

And then Cedric finished the tired boy off with a last 'Stupefy', sending him into the lands of unconsciousness.

"The point goes to Cedric Diggory!" Lupin announced from the side.

"That was nuts!" Ron exclaimed beside him. "Complete madness!"

Andrea was quiet, her mouth wide open in shock.

Similar reactions seemed to range through the crowd, but amongst the exclaiming, wide-eyed faces was the frowning visage of Harry.

While the rapid chain of spells had managed to impress him a bit, the lack of any movement was quite upsetting.

He hoped that Davies wasn't like Cedric. No matter how impressive their magic may be, Harry wouldn't be able to hold himself back too much—as was his plan—if his opponents simply acted like stationary target boards.

…Unless he received an especially good quest. In which case he must control his urges to bully his enemies.

Whatever happens, hopefully it will be interesting.

-----------------------------

AN: Chapter end!

I know, I know, must've felt fillerish innit? The whole recreating the scene of finding Fluffy etc. I was trying to lay the foundation for a bigger plot with all that Riddle and Hagrid stuff but meh. Too slow.

This is where I decided to change the pace (on pat reon) so you can now expect things to proceed faster from the next chapter.

With the dueling tournament and quite a bit of action, along with the next marvel plot's introduction, the story will now start moving as fast as I can go without rushing anything. Just wait till the next chap to decide what you prefer.

Also, I've realised I never stated it here; but this fic has changed from Avengers/Hp to Marvel/Hp fic (I'll change the tags later) so expect the addition of X-men and other marvel characters. I'm still following the Avengers (and MCU) timeline above all but there will be pretty clear differences, and you might get to see some minor subplots or quests for Harry outside of MCU.

This also means Harry will be getting a mutation ;)

Anyway that's all for today, let me know your thoughts on the chapter below, and I'll see you all in the next one.

Till then stay safe, take care, and peace!

My discord: discord .gg/9wpfysDGsz to discuss fics and chill.

My Pat reon: www. Pat reon com/ Robs511 (No spaces and a dot before com) for anyone who wants to read upto the next three chaps of all my fics.

P.S: THE SCHEDULE FOR MY FICS HAVE CHANGED! I WILL NOW BE POSTING 1 CHAPTER (2 here) PER 4 DAYS! Though the length will be much bigger, with atleast 8k words per chapter. So the next update for MS will be on 14th.