The Single Duels

Chapter 29: The Single Duels

Harry woke up early as usual. For a few seconds, he could only see Iris's red hair as he remained still, not moving. Iris's naked back was warm against his naked chest. Harry bit back a moan as he felt her soft butt on his morning wood. He gently pulled back his hand which was cupping her chest and scooted back. He slid off of the bed and stood beside it. His lips turned into a grin as he recalled last night. He had spent more than an hour having fun with Daphne. He almost drooled as the image of Daphne in her sexy underwear came to the forefront of his mind. A shiver passed down his spine as the events after that passed through his mind. When Harry had come back to his room, he had found an annoyed Iris waiting for him. She was irritated because of him coming late. She hadn't wasted a single moment before stripping him and herself naked and pulling him on the bed. Harry had been amused and he let her do her thing. He always found her cute and adorable when she acted possessive and territorial. So for the second time last night, Harry let himself bask in the sensual company of a beautiful girl. He had a good night's sleep after that. He was brought to present by the twitch of his member.

He was naked as usual, his shaft was hard and pointing upwards. He yawned softly while letting his gaze roam over Iris's naked body. She was sleeping on her side, facing away from him, giving his eyes pleasure of seeing her cute curvy arse. Harry ignored the urge to jump on her and slid inside her beautiful slit to finally conjoin them in body, soul and mind. He cursed himself for making difficult promises. Only if he hadn't promised Daphne of being his first, only if he hadn't promised himself to not have sex with Iris until she was fourteen. It was so tempting to forget promises and have Iris there and then. He shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts and walked into the bathroom. A cold shower will definitely make his horny mind more rational and reasonable.

~~~

Fleur patiently waited for Harry in the forbidden forest. She was in her exercise clothes: loose blue cotton t-shirt, black shorts, and training shoes. Her silky silvery blonde hair was also tied in a tight bun. It had become a daily ritual for both Harry and Fleur to practice together in the early mornings. The ritual started when Harry had accepted Fleur as his friend after that violent day in which she ended up murdering a few scums in the mundane world.

She leaned against a tree, staring at the narrow path from which he usually walked out.

Few seconds later, Harry entered the clearing from that same path. Fleur smiled seeing him. His medium length black hair was tousled and it framed his handsome face nicely. He was wearing white t-shirt and grey track pants. His emerald eyes roamed over her body from head to toe.

"Good morning, Fleur. You look good today." He said with a lopsided smile.

"And you say that everyday. Good morning to you too, Harry." Fleur said with a fond smile. He was eccentric and strange but she readily confessed to herself that he was one of her dearest friends. Since coming to Hogwarts, since she started spending time with him, she barely ever felt lonely.

"That's your fault." he shrugged and gave her a brief hug, wrapping his arms around her.

"I know. I am just that awesome looking." Fleur grinned, hugging him back. Since befriending Harry, she had come to realise many things about him. One of them was that Harry was a huge fan of hugs. The first time he had hugged her, she had thought that he was just trying to find opportunities to cop a feel but his hands never wandered down her waist. After that she had realised that he was one of those people who was just so free with giving and receiving hugs.

He then led her to the centre of the clearing where they did their daily exercise.

"So what's the plan for today?" Fleur queried, both of them taking dozens of steps away from each other, putting some distance between them.

"After practice and breakfast, I am going to the library to spend some time with Jasmine and Hermione. Then in the afternoon, along with everyone I am going to be present when the duelling competition begins. It will be epic, I am sure. Tracey and Daphne will do brilliantly." Harry announced his schedule while stretching his body. Fleur just hummed, acknowledging his answer, pushing her wand in her hand.

"Hey Harry, who do you think will win in a duel between me and Daphne? I am just curious to know how powerful she is." she asked, pointing her wand forward, her body in an attacking position. Harry stood relaxed, his wand pointing to the ground at his side. She had been extremely curious about Daphne since she met her yesterday.

"Daphne will beat you with her eyes blindfolded. She is way ahead of you. Like way ahead. She has been practising duelling since the first year." Harry replied casually. Fleur was taken aback by the frank answer. That was unexpected.

"Are you serious? She is three years younger than me. I myself have been training since I was ten. How can you say that she with mere four years of training can beat me with closed eyes? That's definitely an insult." Fleur said incredulously, her pride taking a massive hit. She just couldn't believe him. She refused to believe him. Harry chuckled at her annoyed response.

"I didn't intend to offend you, Fleur. But one thing Daphne had for four years which you didn't was me. And she exploited the advantage to a ridiculous level. She fought in mock duels with me everyday. She asked me to teach her new dangerous spells whenever she mastered the previous one. And if that wasn't enough then she also fought with Tracey, Astoria and Iris in mock duels and sometimes even three against one. Daphne was quite insistent on becoming powerful. As I am in a praising mood right now, I can even say that if I just fight her with my normal wizarding capabilities and don't use my special powers then there is a very tiny chance that she may defeat me. A very tiny chance but a possibility nonetheless. Honestly, at your current level Fleur, you might not even be a challenge to Astoria who is the least powerful member among the four girls." Harry explained with an amused smirk. He was honest, maybe too honest but she needed to know that she wasn't the most powerful witch of her age as she proudly proclaimed. Fleur scrunched her face in rage and started raining spells on Harry. If his early words affected her pride then these words totally demolished her arrogance and confidence. If she couldn't defeat even Astoria who was barely thirteen years old in a straight fight then what good came out of all the tiresome training she did for years. It was just too much to think about so she let her anger out in the form of spells.

But just like always Harry deftly moved between the spells with no effort. And just like always he didn't even use his wand and totally depended on just dodging and weaving through the stream of spells. Fleur scowled at him and increased the number of spells she shot per second. Her hand was just a blur but she was still no closer to hitting him than she was days ago when this exercise began for the first time. Fleur would have considered this exercise pointless long ago if not for the apparent increase in her stamina and spell speed after each session.

She turned the ground under him into lava and he simply jumped back. She shot a jet of water at him and he flipped to his side. She sent golems sprinting towards him and he destroyed them with a single punch or kick. She let a torrent of flame fly towards him and he jumped aside with minimum effort. She tried everything but her each strike was answered with a ridiculous feat of physical fitness. He would jump, he would slide, he would sidestep. Sometimes he would bounce like a monkey while other times he would move like a professional dancer. She didn't know if it was minutes or hours since she started the duel but her face was covered in sweat, her silver blonde hair was slick and out of the tight bun. Her blue t-shirt had splotches of dampness due to immense perspiration. Her legs were shaking from running around so much.

Harry took pity on her, he closed the distance between them with quick jumps and grabbed her wand hand. He gave a tight squeeze on her wrist. She gasped out an 'ouch' as her wand fell on the muddy ground. She abruptly sat on the ground, panting, her body tired from the intense workout.

"That...was...intense." Fleur said between breaths. Harry squatted down beside her.

"Wow. Never thought I, merely a fourteen year old boy, would tire out a beautiful adult veela." he quipped, casting freshening charms on her to counter the sweat. Fleur raised her eyebrow at his innuendo, trying not to smile at his joke.

"Really? When are you going to stop flirting with me? As a matter of fact, when are you going to stop flirting with every girl? I don't want to flirt back and risk Daphne's anger. Now more so knowing how dangerous and powerful she is." she asked playfully. Harry just laughed.

"Daphne and I are in a somewhat strange relationship. I think 'open relationship' is the closest term I can find to describe it. Where Daphne and I are free to romantically pursue anyone we want. So I am basically free to flirt with anyone I want. As you are my dear friend and I trust you somewhat, I can reveal that Tracey is also a part of this 'open relationship'." Harry revealed, grinning at her shocked expression.

"That's absurd. As far as I have seen, Daphne and Tracey will never try someone else when they already have you, they are totally devoted to you. This relationship mostly benefits you." Fleur said with a puzzled expression.

"I know." Harry said with a fond smile, thinking about the two girls.

"Isn't it unfair? You are free to run after different girls even when you know that Tracey and Daphne won't do the same"" Fleur asked, trying not to judge. Harry laughed again.

"I know and I am aware of my faults. But the girls accept it thankfully. And that's all that matters." Harry sighed.

"Wow. So you are basically amassing a harem. So are Astoria and Iris also part of it? I mean they both are mostly around you." Fleur said, giggling.

"Not confirming nor denying." He grinned mischievously and then stood up. "Let's go. Iris would be awake by now and waiting for me."

"Okay." she nodded and straightened up. She looked up at the sky and smiled as a cool pleasant wind blew on her, calming her tired body and invigorating her. Her eyebrows rose as she looked back to see Harry patting her shorts and coping a feel of her arse.

"You did not." she groaned and then glared at him. He continued patting her arse and looked at her innocently.

"What? Your shorts were dirty after you sat on the muddy floor. I am just cleaning it and fulfilling my duty as a loyal friend." he grinned and went on 'cleaning' it with more intensity. He stopped short when he saw her glare and slowly stepped back.

"Thank you, mon cher. But it is my time to clean you. Your track pants do look dirty. Let me clean it." she growled, rubbing her hands together and stepped towards him.

"Nah, I am not into spanking. At least not when I am on the receiving end." Harry teased. When he saw her sparkling blue eyes promising retribution, he started running.

"Help! This big scary woman is trying to molest me. Paedophile alert." Harry yelled, laughing at her and incensing her more.

"Hypocrite." she yelled back and sent several stinging hexes at his back which he nimbly dodged. She ran after him, wanting to even the odds and fulfil her revenge.

Unfortunately for her, Harry would escape the punishment.

~~~

Outside the Hogwarts castle, an arena was made overnight. It was moderately large, big enough to seat everyone at Hogwarts along with the international guests. Right now it was fully filled with students and professors who were excited to see some badass duelling.

Fleur though was trying to hide her amused smile. For the first time in her life people weren't gaping at her. The reason being that she was with Harry, or near Harry to be precise. She was sitting beside Astoria who herself was sitting beside Harry. While on Harry's other side sat Iris who couldn't help but shoot smug glances at her.

'If Harry's declaration of 'open relationship' in the morning hadn't totally unveiled the incestuous relationship between the siblings then Iris's smug looks definitely confirmed it. Look at her, she is one step away from sitting in Harry's lap.' Fleur thought in amusement. Fleur was hopeful that given time, Iris and she will become friends. Key word here 'given time'. But for now she was happy with the tentative friendship she had started with Daphne and Tracey.

Everyone else was doing their best to ignore Harry's group. Though they kept sneaking glances at him when they thought he wouldn't notice them. Half of these glances were filled with awe and the other half with fear and apprehension. The jury was still out on whether Harry Potter was indeed the champion of mother magic or a dark wizard trying to take over the world. The best thing was to just ignore him and hope for the best.

"The Participants please come on the stage." Bagman shouted cheerfully. Though the duelling and quidditch tournaments would be sponsored by Hogwarts school and not the ministry, Bagman was just too happy to join in the fun.

From the entrance many students walked in. Harry hummed as he looked at each participant. Since every house had 7 participants, the total number of duelists would be 42 including the additional 14 from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

From Gryffindor were the Weasley twins, Jasmine, Hermione and three older students whose name he didn't know.

From Ravenclaw he only recognised Cho Chang and Roger Davis. While from Hufflepuff he only knew Susan Bones.

Although he knew every seven members from the Slytherin house, he only cared about Tracey and Daphne. The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang were totally unknown to him.

"Who do you think will win, Harry?" Iris asked, her eyebrows creased in a thoughtful frown.

"Most probably Daphne. But Tracey also has a moderate chance." Harry answered, not taking his eyes off from the two girls. While Tracey appeared nervous and determined as the names of the competitors were announced by Bagman, Daphne had a small confident smirk and uncaring attitude.

Every match in the tournament would be a disqualification round. Every participant had to keep on winning to continue further. If you lost even one match then you were out of competition. Harry thought it was for the best, otherwise who knows for how long the competition would go on. He looked on with boredom as the duels started. The students were pathetically weak and clumsy. The first 5-6 duels were comically boring. He hoped that Daphne's or Tracey's match would start soon or otherwise he was going to doze off.

"The next match will be between Tracey Davis from Slytherin and Jacques Roux from Beauxbatons. Contestants please come forward." Bagman said loudly.

~~~

Tracey took a deep breath and ignored the jitters as she climbed on one end of the stage. The other contestants gave her appraising looks from one part of the arena where all the competitors sat and waited for their turn. Daphne gave her a small nod and smiled softly, filling her with confidence.

She walked to the middle of the stage where her opponent, along with professor Flitwick, who would act as a referee for all the matches, were standing. She missed the weight of Ouroboros' necklace on her neck. She and Daphne had decided not to wear it during the tournaments. There was a chance that an opponent might hit them with a spell in the duels. It will be hard to explain why the spells didn't work on them. After all she and Daphne were magically invincible when they had that beautiful necklace on them.

"No dark spell allowed. Don't cast with an intent to permanently injure or kill. Start after the countdown of 1." Professor Flitwick instructed as he walked away, giving them nods of encouragement.

"3." the professor began.

"My, my, such a bad fate that I have to defeat a pretty lady like you. Don't take it against me." her opponent said with a cocky smile. Tracey was more than aware of her beauty, thanks to Harry who didn't miss a single chance to compliment her. And she reckoned that the tight black trousers and red blouse obviously increased her appeal. Tracey stared at Jacques. He was good looking with his curly black hair and hazel eyes.

'But not as handsome as Harry.' her mind supplied, making her smile sardonically. 'Of course, no one is prettier than Harry.'

"2."

"Don't worry, Mr. Roux. I will be very impressed if you can defeat me." Tracey replied with a kind smile as the both contestants took many steps back, tension increasing in their bodies, preparing to fight. He sent her a charming smile.

"Then I hope you will say yes when I ask you to accompany me to Hogsmeade on a date, after all, this might be the only time I have the opportunity to talk to such a belle fille." he smirked.

"Defeat me before planning your whimsical dreams." Tracey muttered, rolling her eyes.

"As you wish."

"1."

"Expelliarmus!" the red jet of light sped towards her. Tracey easily sidestepped and pointed her wand at him. Her first instinct was to send a reductor curse but that was not allowed for her. Harry had said that she was only allowed to use transfiguration while Daphne had to use Charms and Curses. She had to follow the handicap agreement. So she did something quick and flashy instead.

She converted the air between them into water with a flick of her wand and sent the small wave towards the awed opponent. Though he didn't remain idle for long and raised a wall of mud in front of him from the ground, protecting himself from the wave.

But the time used by Jacques to pull a wall from the ground was enough for Tracey to defeat him. She turned the water into fog before it collided with the makeshift wall, plunging him in the cold and translucent fog, obscuring the vision in front of him while she simultaneously raised a platform under her legs with a sudden force, shooting herself in the sky. She flew a few metres in the air, gaining enough altitude to see Jacques hiding behind his wall. She had only a few seconds before she would fall on the ground. She aimed her wand at him and shot a square of mud at his hand before crouching nimbly on her feet as she landed back on the ground. A pained exclamation came from behind the wall as the fog vanished. A second later the wall also vanished. Jacques was nursing his hand while his wand was on the floor.

"The victory goes to Tracey Davis from Slytherin." Professor Flitwick announced the result. There was a second of silence as everyone processed how short the match was. Then a tumultuous applause filled the arena. Everyone was clapping and cheering. It was definitely the most entertaining match until now. Tracey had a wide smile as she basked in the noise. She gave a respectful nod to her defeated opponent and left the stage, not giving a single thought to his mournful look.

~~~

"Talk about short and powerful." Astoria laughed as Tracey turned her head to shoot a proud smile at them from the stage. She waved at them and then quickly got off stage, sitting at her place along with other contestants.

"Yeah. It was good. I am glad that I gave them a challenge otherwise Tracey would have finished the duel with her single signature spell." Harry pondered out loud.

"What challenge?" Fleur asked, listening in to their conversation.

"Harry challenged Tracey to just use Transfiguration in the matches as she is comparatively weaker in that subject. Same goes for Daphne, she is only allowed to use Charms and Curses and no other field of magic. Daphne is not exactly poor at those two subjects but at least she is prohibited from using Transfiguration, in which she is strongest. So you see, in this competition Daphne and Tracey are not using their strongest points and are depending on their weakest subjects. Not that it will be a real challenge. Those two girls were religiously practising since the competition was announced, they must have learnt a lot of new things in their weaker fields of magic." Iris explained happily, apparently enjoying the fights or maybe she was just pleased because Harry had his arm around her shoulder, keeping her in a side hug.

Fleur nodded at her, a fire of competitiveness igniting inside her.

'Yes, Daphne and Tracey are leagues ahead of me in terms of power and magic but I won't give up, I will never give up, I will reach them someday, I will stand equal to them in future. I will prove my worth. I am Fleur Delacour and I will never lose.'

The group then sat patiently, watching moderately entertaining duels for more than an hour, eagerly awaiting Daphne's turn. Her chance finally came.

"Please give a round of applause to Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin and Ivan Solobek of Durmstrang."

~~~

A bulky blonde haired boy stood on the stage, peering at the approaching figure of Daphne Greengrass. She had her long blonde hair in a high ponytail, she wore attire similar to Tracey, tight black pants and form fitting blue shirt. She sauntered in the middle, stopping in front of her opponent. She smirked at him, tilting her head to the side, giving him an amused look.

"No dark spell allowed. Don't cast with an intent to permanently injure or kill. Start after the countdown of 1." Professor Flitwick instructed as he walked away, giving them nods of encouragement.

"3." Professor Flitwick started.

"Do you find me funny, little girl?" Ivan said in an intimidating voice, trying to scare the younger girl.

"2."

"No, I was just checking if you were worth any challenge. You do look strong with your tall and bulky body. Don't disappoint me Mr. Solobek." Daphne mused out loud as she began walking back.

"Don't worry little girl, I will teach you a lesson on how to respect your betters." he grunted, copying her steps. Daphne's smile became more sharp as she just nodded.

"1."

The boy sent a silent reductor curse at her. Daphne merely turned sideways, letting the spell pass harmlessly.

'I am not in the mood right now. Let's end this before it gets annoying.' Daphne thought and prepared herself. She remained nonchalant as her opponent prepared to cast a dangerous spell, and simply stared at him.

"Fulmen Flamen!" Ivan roared. Daphne hummed in approval as she braced herself, putting pressure on the back, rounder part of her feet, standing lightly on it.

'A lightning blast? Not bad.' she thought, pushing her wand forward. A split second later, a white bolt of electricity shot with a clap of thunder from Ivan's wand. She smelled the ozone in the atmosphere and felt goosebumps on her forearms.

Daphne pulled her wand back with a jerk and twirled on her heels gracefully, rotating 180 degree at the spot, before pushing her wand at the tired figure of Ivan who thought the match was already over after he cast his strongest and most painful curse. He didn't get a chance to react as the chaotic beam of lightning moved around Daphne's body before returning towards him. He screamed in pain when his own lightning struck his body. He immediately lost consciousness.

"HEALER!" Professor Flitwick yelled, running towards the fallen body of Ivan. Daphne wasn't sure if it was her imagination or Ivan was really smoking hot. Literally. Translucent smoke was pouring out from his body. Her lips quivered upwards as she found her own joke amusing. She quickly hid her smile and looked on impassively as Madam Pomfrey started healing the injured boy. Headmaster Dumbledore and other Professors who came running on the stage gave her a judgemental look.

"An excellent achievement of taking control of the enemy's magic and redirecting it back to them. Congratulations Miss Greengrass you are one of very few who can do that in the whole world. Though I know you did nothing wrong but was it necessary? You could have redirected it somewhere else instead of on the body of Ivan Solobek himself." Dumbledore asked with a tired smile.

"Sorry Headmaster but I am not competent enough to totally take control of other's magic. I was trying to redirect the lightning towards the sky but failed due to its immense pressure and heat. I am sincerely sorry, it was arrogant of me to think that I could control it. I hope Ivan is not gravely injured." Daphne lied in a perfect polite and apologetic voice. Dumbledore smiled kindly at her, believing her instantly.

"No harm done my dear. Ivan will be fine in a few minutes and it was his own fault for using such magic at a friendly competition. Just practice more and you will be a legend of your generation." Dumbledore praised while cautioning her at the same time. He walked away with Madam Pomfrey levitating Ivan's knocked out body behind.

"And the winner is Miss Greengrass." Bagman announced after the awkward silence. There was a scattered applause as the audience was still unsure what happened. This was an extremely short match, lasting less than a minute. The audience just saw an arc of lightning erupting from Ivan's wand before flying back to him after it curved around Daphne's body.

Daphne gave a cheeky grin to the audience and walked away from the stage.

~~~

Harry was chuckling as Daphne went away. She was just so sexy and appealing when she pulled off such stunts. He so wanted to climb down there and pull her in a deep sensual kiss and see the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

"Wow." Fleur muttered. She couldn't believe how awesome that was. Daphne didn't use any magic. She just won with one step. She just won using Ivan Solobek's own magic against him.

"Yeah, wow. That was so dramatic. Daphne doesn't miss any chance to show off." Astoria said while rolling her eyes. Fleur though found the black haired girl's lips curved in a proud smile. The girl's eyes were filled with admiration as she stared at her elder sister.

"How many more interesting matches do you think are left, brother?" Iris asked, looking at the place where all the participants sat.

"Hermione, the Weasley twin, Susan are done and did fine. I am only interested in Jasmine's match now. But her match is the last in the first round so I have to wait for a bit." Harry answered.

~~~

Harry was shocked, he stared in awe, his lips parted in astonishment.

Until now Jasmine was doing her best against Roger Davis. She fought toe to toe with the older Ravenclaw. It was quite impressive and admirable. But unfortunately she was tiring faster than the boy. At last she stumbled in the path of an approaching stunner. She was too close to dodge or to erect a shield. Everyone thought she was going down but something unimaginable happened next. The audience's cheers and applause filled the stadium but few students remained frozen on their seats including Harry who never thought he would see something like that.

Just before the stunner was going to hit her, a golden mist shot out of her fingers and formed an impromptu makeshift shield which rebounded the spell. Roger Davis was knocked off of his feet when his own stunner hit him.

"And the winner is Jasmine Zinan of Hogwarts." Bagman yelled.

"Was that the Deus?" Iris mumbled, not able to believe her eyes.

"Yes. And I definitely didn't use it." Harry whispered. His mind filled with thousands of thoughts while his emotions were a jumbled mess. He just stared at Jasmine who bowed to the audience and glanced at him, her eyes and intent unreadable.

"I need to talk to her. Urgently." Harry said in a hoarse voice.