Chapter 40
Rosalia Potter sat on one of the cushiony seats in the dueling hall, alongside her group of friends.
"Do you see Malfoy's face?" Tracy snickered. "Looks like he's in shock."
Rose turned to the blonde boy discreetly, observing his slumped figure; he seemed to be looking straight at the wall, his eyes unfocused and dead.
"That's what you get for betting against my brother." Rose giggled.
"…Indeed." Daphne whispered, her eyes fixed on Harry. "As expected."
Rose didn't like something about her gaze. There was an edge of calculating gleam within them, almost as if she was weighing her brother's worth…just like Arcturus had taught her to do.
She glanced at her twin; who was busy talking to a very cute senior girl with short pink hair. Smothering a twinge of jealousy, she turned back to her friend just in time to see her licking her suddenly dry lips…
"Careful, Daph." Rose giggled. "I might think you're in love with him."
But she knew the hidden barb in her teasing words was clearly understood by her friend.
Daphne might be the only person who knew what lurked beneath her giggling face. And the only person to truly understand what she may have gone through. Because Rose could see the same thing in her eyes; the subtle look of a predator trained from birth, observing her prey for any weakness to pounce upon. The cold selfish glint that placed her own needs above anything else. And the manipulative edge that knew how to get what she wanted with but a few words….
If Rose had to guess, she'd say Daphne went through something similar to herself; raised to be the heir of an ancient family from a young age. She could empathize with her really, which was why she usually didn't get angry at her.
Except when it came to her brother.
"Perhaps I do want him." Daphne's icy façade cracked, a small, challenging smile taking over.
Rose frowned. Her friend was never this obstinate.
"I hope, for your sake, that you're joking." Rose warned, all pretense dropping.
She wasn't trying to threaten her friend. She truly hoped, for her sake, that she was simply joking. Daphne was free to plot and plan against others…
But Harry was no prey. He was too observant and ruthless. Too wild and unpredictable. He almost seemed to have a sixth sense for trouble.
It'll be foolish to try anything against him, unless you were prepared to face the consequences.
And Rose was afraid that consequence will leave Daphne ruined, something Rose truly wished to avoid. Her friend may treat others like objects, but she was quite caring towards the chosen few that she called friends.
Just like Rose, Daphne seemed to have outgrown her teachings….or perhaps her parents were simply kinder than Arcturus Black, teaching her the value of friends.
Whatever the case, she didn't wish to lose her first true friend. Harry didn't count, he was her….ah…brother…
'Just brother?' A slimy little voice whispered.
She suppressed the thought, focusing back on her friend.
The girls stared each other down, and the others could only look on in confusion. She doubted anyone understood...except perhaps Blaise.
At last, Daphne dropped her gaze, though the smile remained. "Of course I'm joking."
Rose sighed, doubting her words. "I hope so, Daph."
Because if it truly came down to it….she wouldn't hesitate in beating the girl to a pulp, wrapping her in nice ribbons, and throwing her at Harry's feet.
It would hurt to do so of course, but she'd still do it with no hesitation.
She could only hope her friend realized this.
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The first round of the tournament went on for a full week. One hour each alternate day, they would gather in the great hall to continue the tournament; finally concluding the 64 matches. Usually most of the rounds ended in mere seconds, without much fanfare or climax. But those with equally skilled opponents could go on for a few minutes, though most of these involved 3rd years fighting other 3rd years.
Harry kept a careful track of every potential opponent in the tournament, absently dismissing those who failed to leave an impression on him. The handful who did enter his 'Potential Opponent' list though, were some of the best in their years.
One such opponent was Adrien Pucey. The 3rd year boy fought against his own friend, Cassius Warrington, and their duel dwarfed his and Roger's by quite a margin.
Without a doubt, both were better than Davies. Perhaps not as skilled as Diggory, but they more than made up for it through sheer cunning and malicious intent, even against each other. Something Harry could respect.
All three of their rounds took at least two minutes each, both of them skillfully dancing along the dueling stage, a wide variety of spells at their wand-tip.
Unfortunately, while better at dodging than Cedric, they still only moved inside a small one meter square, treating it like some invisible boundary that Harry couldn't see.
They didn't use Protego much either, as the spell 'Descutio' seemed to be its perfect counter. The shattering spell—Nymphadora informed him—was a single bullet like blue flash that was made to pierce through defensive magic. At higher mastery, it could also be used to pierce through wards and enhancements, and was a personal favorite of ward-breakers.
In the end, Pucey won the duel 2-1 after a grueling exchange of chained spells.
Another match that generated almost as much interest as Harry's was his midget twin's. Rose fought against Mariette Edgecombe, an arrogant 2nd year who refused to do the ceremonial bow of respect. The shortstuff convincingly won the match with 2-0, simply outmatching her opponent in skill and dexterity.
Though the reason for his interest wasn't the duel itself, it was what happened afterwards. Rose, maintaining the image of her naive good-girl self, went on and gave a hand to her opponent. Instead of taking it—and accepting how worthless she was—the 2nd year girl spat at his twin sister, slapping away the hand. She was reprimanded by Remus, but Harry had made sure to etch her name in his memory.
Mariette Edgecombe...She would pay dearly for this of course. And thanks to the Marauders Map, he would always know where she was. There was no escape for her.
Apart from that, Angelina Johnson beat Adam Pickering with a score of 2-1, Alicia Spinnet won against Marcus Belby, Fred Weasley managed to defeat Edna Patridge, and his twin followed him in the next round by defeating Holden Ledbury.
From his class, Susan won against Padma Patil quite convincingly. Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, and Draco Malfoy qualified as well, though he didn't bother remembering their sub-par opponents.
After a very painful match, Ron sadly lost to Daphne Greengrass with an embarrassing score of 0-2.
The girl, who'd been dubbed Ice Princess by the rest of their classmates, was easily amongst the top 5 duelers in their year. Ron did well enough to create chances in both the matches—refusing to be dominated—but couldn't quite turn those chances into an actual victory.
Except that, Andrea whooped in cheer after downing Cormac McLaggen. Their elder sister Dorea, who he'd almost forgotten about, gave him a slight start when she defeated a fellow 3rd year—Miles Bletchley—with an almost contemptuous ease.
She also turned out to be good friends with Diggory when she joined his new team, rejecting offers from Tonks and Marcus flint.
It truly was a shame. Had it not been for her Superior-than-thou glance at Harry, he might've been impressed. She was better than Diggory.
As it was, an irrational voice convinced him to let loose against her. When they stood against each other, there would be no holding back from Harry…
Except, perhaps, for the unforgivable…
'No. I promised Lily not to hurt our family…'
Hermione Granger barely won against a 2nd year, Arman Shettigar. She had more knowledge of spells than her opponent, but she was equally lacking in situational awareness and tactics. Her form was perfect, but that was all a book can teach her. She was so stiff and uncertain that she lost a bout simply because she didn't know what to do.
Except that, Harry made sure to remember everyone that Tonks offered a place in their team. 2nd year Helen Dawlish won against 3rd year Graham Romsey with a very impressive 2-0 performance.
Unfortunately, she too was taken by a team already and rejected Tonks' offer at once.
But not all was hopeless for team 'Team Tonks'. Cho Chang, another 2nd year, won against a 3rd year Jake Flinton, impressing the crowd with a splendid performance. More importantly, she readily accepted Tonks' offer. Though for some reason Tonks winked at him as if he were responsible for this recruitment.
All the while, Harry enjoyed the double protection provided by Tonks and Eleanor, guarding him like their prized possession, and not letting any other team leader approach him. Not even Wood when he declared the subject matter to be Quidditch.
The first round of the tournament soon ended after that, and Remus announced the final 64 contestants who still remained in the tournament. Round 2 was to be held on the first of October, same place, same time.
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Harry's daily life quickly settled in the new schedule. After breakfast in the Great Hall—which was always returned to its previous state after the duels—Harry proceeded through his classes.
Unfortunately, most of the subjects did not hold his interest for long, what with him leaving the current syllabus behind. Instead of sitting uselessly though, Harry experimented with magic in hopes to understand it better, or simply practiced Occlumency. No teacher—Snape included—tried reprimanding him once they realized how far ahead he was.
Magic, Harry soon realized, was a subject with an incredibly large untapped potential. Most of the wizards seemed content with practicing within the boundaries created by their predecessors, unwilling to truly dive deep within it.
Perhaps it was due to his wandless magic, perhaps due to Mana Manipulation, or simply the advantages of being a Sage, but he soon found himself understanding the nature of magic to a degree unmatched by his peers…or his superiors, for that matter.
Well…at least, Nymphadora had not known why magic in its natural state showed no individual trait, aside from being highly adaptable.
Apart from experimentations, Dueling and Potions were the only subjects he paid any attention to. Dueling because Remus—now knowing what he was capable of—gave special attention to him. Potions, on the other hand, was the only interesting subject that he cannot learn on his own, due to its pure practical nature.
Plus, it was quite fun.
Of course, the reason might also have been the company of his sister and mother who would dote on him any chance they could get.
After all the lessons ended, three days a week he would have quidditch practice; and would need to be present at 5—either PM or AM, depending on Wood's schedule.
When everything was over, he would finally get some free time to himself. Though that too was promised to be shortened when Nymphadora—out of nowhere—announced her intentions to start dueling practice once the junior tournament was over.
In hindsight, it was quite logical. The entirety of Hogwarts treated Dueling and Quidditch as some sacred sport that everyone needed to be good at. He could understand Dueling, considering the praises Nymphadora always sang about the Room they would be rewarded upon winning the tournament, but Quidditch only gave a worthless cup and some house points.
He was certain there was some politics involved but he didn't know in what way, neither did he care to find out.
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Round 2 matches were announced just a few hours before it started, and this time Harry would be facing a 2nd year, Fergus Cawley. Andrea was up against Theodore Nott. While Hermione—who for some reason was once again talking to them—will be facing Cho Chang.
"I have to learn this spell..." She muttered an hour before the duel, a book in her hand like usual. "All the senior duelists know how to break through shields. We can't go unprepared in this..."
"Relax a little, would you?" Ron snapped. "I'm not even in the tournament anymore and I'm still getting stressed looking at you."
Hermione huffed. "You would've been in the tournament if you'd put more attention to your studies than chess."
Andrea snickered.
"Why are you laughing?" Ron whined. "You aren't supposed to take her side."
"It's true though." She snickered again.
Ron's angry muttering was ignored by the rest of the group.
The second round of the tournament proceeded in a much more civil and faster manner. With only 64 remaining contestants, it didn't even take the full two hours to complete.
Quest [A Terror with Wand III] in Progress!
Defeat your opponent and Qualify for the next round ( )
Defeat your opponent with a score of 2-0 ( )
Defeat your opponent without losing Health ( )
Reward:
400 XP
300 XP
300 XP
His match against Fergus Cawley was stale in comparison to Davies'.
However, while he may not be at Roger Davies's level, Cawley was still a decent opponent, with a wide range of spells in his repertoire. What he lacked was dexterity and quick decision making.
He hadn't been able to dodge a single spell that Harry shot at him, being simply too slow and clumsy. So for the latter half of both the rounds, the boy was forced to hide behind a shield, cocooning behind it passively.
And in both the duels Harry used the same Shattering spell—Descutio—to crack through the shield and stun the boy.
Quest [A Terror with Wand III] Completed!
Defeat your opponent and Qualify for the next round (X)
Defeat your opponent with a score of 2-0 (X)
Defeat your opponent without losing Health (X)
Reward:
400 XP
300 XP
300 XP
As the matches concluded; Him, Andrea, Rose, Daphne, and unfortunately Draco, were the only 1st years to still remain in the tournament for the round of 32.
Hermione lost to Cho Chang both times after a very brutal beatdown. While Susan—one of the best in their year—lost her bout against Helen Dawlish after a bitter struggle.
In no time at all, his days at Hogwarts became less and less about simply growing stronger and more and more about…experiencing life. His group started looking less like subjects that he needed to study, his twin became his closest companion behind the system, and his mother became a trustworthy adult that never judged him for anything.
At the start of the second week of October, he found himself thinking less and less about the old days, and more and more about the future. And for the first time he found himself wondering...what if his life remained peaceful from now on, with no enemies hounding for his blood? What if all the threats and dangers that he'd been fearing never really came true? Could he be fine with a quiet, calm, and normal life?
If not, then what exactly did he want? He had no answer to these questions. Not yet.
He had to find a dungeon. It was of utmost importance.
Luckily, he got his wish soon enough.
With the remaining dueling rounds scheduled to be held on three consecutive days in the fourth week of October, Harry got plenty of time to restart his nightly adventures.
He didn't take Ron this time for obvious reasons, wanting to keep things quick and quiet.
His destination for the night was Hogwarts kitchen. For this, he was forced to go back to the entrance hall, but instead of taking the door to the Great Hall, he took the stairs left of the marble staircase.
The stairs led downwards, inside an arch, similar to when they entered the Slytherin dungeons. Just…instead of Dungeons, they led him down to a stone corridor. A corridor that was brightly lit and very wide, decorated with pictures of fruits, vegetables, and dishes.
If he was reading the map right—and he knew he was—then this corridor also led to the Hufflepuff common room.
The instructions to enter the kitchen said he would have to...tickle a pear on one of these pictures, and wait for it to giggle and blush.
Harry blinked. Sometimes, Hogwarts could be such a weird place.
He found the picture towards the end of the corridor, a bowl of fruits with a pear in the middle. He cautiously tickled the fat pear, and indeed, eliciting a howl of giggles, with the spot where he'd tickled it turning from green to pink.
The next second the pear suddenly turned into a large door handle, green and pink in color, swinging open at once when Harry tugged on it.
Instantly, multiple pings of notifications assaulted his ears and Harry quickly opened his system screen.
[Dungeon Discovered: Hufflepuff Dungeon]
[Objective Updated]-
Clear the Hufflepuff Dungeon
Rewards:
10 levels
Common Stat Crystal
[Level Selection]-
Level 1
Level 2 (Locked)
Level 3 (Locked)
Level 4 (Locked)
Level 5 (Locked)
Level 6 (Locked)
Level 7 (Locked)
Final Level (Locked)
Harry smiled, a mixture of warm relief and excitement spreading throughout his body. Even though he trusted his system completely, he hadn't been able to keep himself from doubting the existence of dungeons. But clearly, his doubts were unfounded.
"...Finally."
With great anticipation, Harry selected the first level of the dungeon…
And surrendered to the white flash of light that enveloped his world.
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AN: Finally! Phew, went way past the date didn't I? Had a couple of rough days so wasn't able to keep up with the schedule.
Anyway, what did you think? About the pace and the action...there were 4 different POVs in the chapter, let me know which ones you liked/would like to see more of, and which ones felt unnecessary or dragging.
Steve's was necessary of course, and now you probably know what the plot is. Yep, Harry's gonna team up with our favorite widow ;) Also, yeah ik I'm butchering the plot of Black Widow movie but...do any of you really care? I feel this will be much more exciting for the fic than Canon.
Lastly, about the tournament...my first plan was to give it some proper time, flesh it more and make it a plot of its own. Now that I've introduced it, how would you like to see it proceeding? Like I'd originally meant to or gloss over it quickly?
Let me know your thoughts!
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.
Well, that's it for now. Hope you lot enjoyed the chap, and I'll see you all in the next one!
Till then, stay safe and peace!
P.S: As you've probably guessed I'm not good at following my new schedule, so take these dates with a grain of salt. The next chapter, for MGO, will drop on 21st, and the next MS chap will be posted on 29th (if, and only if, I don't face any delays in any of my stories).