Ch. 57

The Quidditch stands were used for the First Task due to the large number of people that wanted to attend. The duelling platforms were set up on the pitch and the stands were expanded to handle the greater numbers. It wasn't nearly as large as the Quidditch stands for the World Cup, but it was still rather impressive. Professor Flitwick also placed a dome over the arena that blocked the wind and kept the area comfortable enough that no one would freeze in the cold December Scottish day.

To Harry's combined relief and irritation, the two commentators from the Wizarding Wireless mostly ignored Harry's presence during the matches. They only asked him questions between matches and then it was mostly about how the students felt about the Tournament.

For his part, Harry was just glad not to be in the Tournament. The Durmstang students were ruthless in their fighting style. It was very similar to the Black style Sirius used but rougher, not as refined. The Beauxbaton students went for polished and graceful displays of power. If Durmstrang was a battle axe, Beauxbatons was a rapier.

The three Hogwarts students didn't really have a 'style' to speak of. Cedric and Roger were rather flexible with a good range of spells but did not seem to have any underlying strategy in their approach. Their tactics were reactionary and only dealt with the immediate threats of their opponent. Harry wondered if it was because of the revolving door of Defence professor Hogwarts had experienced. Harry suspected the Hogwarts champions had received some training over the past few weeks from Professor Moody much as Harry had from the Marauders.

As to Malfoy, Harry almost felt sorry for the brat.

Almost

....

It was the fifth match of the Task when Draco Malfoy first appeared in the stadium.

"Ah, I see our next participant, Draco Malfoy, now approaching the platform," commented William Blowhard, one of the commentators.

"Yes, it is," confirmed his co-commentator Shelia Gale. "He looks very smart and confident in those fitted duelling robes. I understand the young Mr Malfoy is considered the top Defence student in the lower half of the current Hogwarts students. He'll need that to hold his own considering the skill levels already seen in the previous matches."

Harry was laughing inside at the comment about Malfoy's Defence scores so he missed the question at first. The pair of commentators had for the most part ignored Harry's presence since the duels started (and he was just as happy with that), so he was a bit surprised when they turned to him and asked his opinion.

"Excuse me?" Harry responded in surprise.

"Come now, Mr Potter," Shelia smiled condescendingly. "You are in the same year as Mr Malfoy. Surely you have some insight into his prowess with a wand."

With a sincere smile he learnt from Sirius, Harry answered, "Well, I will say I've seen Draco Malfoy do things with a wand I've never seen another student duplicate. He obviously takes after his father's magical talent."

"Well said, Mr Potter," William stated with an approving nod. The pair then moved on to other comments once again ignoring Harry.

Cedric and Roger were the first champions to duel. They put on a nice display of power and talent. Cedric pulled out the win and the two English commentators were prolific with their positive comments for both champions.

Then it was Durmstrang's turn. Sarah Dimitriova fought August Penev in a quick brutal display. Their spells were powerful, silent, and nasty. Harry recognized many of the spells from the books Sirius provided from the Black family library as being barely legal in most parts of the world. Penev was eventually flung from the duelling platform with a smashed knee. The commentators were now rather negative on the poor sportsmanship of the Durmstrang duelists' spells. No one asked Harry but he rather doubted Roger or Cedric would have been able to defend against many of the spells.

The Beauxbatons duel was a rapier to the Durmstrang hammer. It was graceful, almost a dance, with a skill neither of the other two schools had evinced so far. Fleur won by forcing Michele Desmarais to surrender her wand. Now the commentators slyly suggested either Michele was a coward or taking a dive for the part-human Fleur.

Then Krum came out to defeat Sarah Dimitriova with only two spells. If her spells were powerful in the first fight, Krum must have thrown a good chunk of his magical core into his spells. Even the commentators were stunned as they expected the Seeker to go for grace and skill over power. Harry thought it was like watching the Death Star taking out Alderaan.

Now, it was Draco and Roger's turn on the platform.

Draco strutted up to the platform to the approving murmurs of the commentators. Harry wondered if Malfoy Sr. owned the Wizarding Wireless or if these two were simply natural suck-ups. Roger came out determined to make up for the near run he'd had in his first fight. Harry thought he looked ready to rip Malfoy a new arsehole. Harry grinned. This could be fun.

The fight was everything Harry could have wanted. Malfoy started out well but the spells were somewhat… questionable in nature. This seemed to infuriate Roger. The Ravenclaw Seventh year then seemed to give the Slytherin boy a lesson in duelling etiquette. Harry felt like clapping at the display.

"Roger just performed an excellent riverso manoeuvre that almost allowed him to perform a manual seizure of Malfoy's wand," Harry commented absently. "Roger has Malfoy's measure now but he should end it quickly before Malfoy does something out of desperation that only a tyro would try." The pair of commentators stopped watching the match to stare at Harry is surprise.

"That was rather insightful, Mr Potter," William said in a surprised tone.

"Professor Flitwick was kind enough to give me a bit of training on magical duelling since this event was announced," Harry admitted in a humble tone. He didn't mention the practical training with his insane 'uncles'.

"One of the great Duelists of our time," Shelia said with a smile. "It seems our Boy-Who-Lived has made something of a duelling expert out of himself. Maybe one day you could be duelling out there." Harry resisted rolling his eyes at her. Why did magicals seem to expect so much out of the Boy-Who-Lived and then treated him as a complete toe-rag?

Malfoy lost when he lost his temper and was called out on a foul by Professor Groer. Predictably the commentators decried this as a great injustice. They still didn't shut up about it an hour later when Cedric almost launched the git into orbit with a modified Blasting Curse that was 'cushioned' to prevent real injury. The commentators still tried to make it sound like a near run thing but couldn't be too harsh as Cedric came from a Pureblooded, Ministry-connected family also.

The final round came down to Krum, Fleur, and Cedric. It quickly became apparent that the Hogwarts champion was outclassed on the duelling platform. Fleur, who managed to scrape a win against Alfonse to Harry's disappointment, made poor Cedric look as bad as Malfoy. Victor Krum was actually somewhat merciful and ended it quickly without injuring his fellow Seeker.

The final duel between Fleur and Krum was a thing of beauty to Harry.

Fleur Delacour may have been a witch with a B, but she was quick witted, fast with her wand, and incredibly skilled. Harry was impressed with the variety of spells the French witch was able to call on in an instant. She was as graceful as a dancer but moved like a martial artist, dodging more spells then she blocked. Hitting her with a spell while stopping her onslaught would be a challenge for any wizard. And more the fool they if they were also distracted by her obvious feminine charms.

Victor Krum was a Viking warrior out of old. He fought with a brutal passion. He shrugged off many of the annoying hexes and curses Fleur sent his way while sending the same over-powered spells towards the Veela witch that he sent in his first rounds. Harry was impressed with the Bulgarian's ability to keep up that level of magical output.

In the end, Fleur's grace was not sufficient to bring down Victor in the duel. In a true fight without the spell restrictions of a formal duel, maybe Fleur would have prevailed since she managed to land a surprising number of her spells on Krum. Of course in a true fight Victor would have been freed of those same restrictions.

....

"Well, that was certainly an excellent display of duelling prowess," Dumbledore said with a smile as he stood facing the stands of students and spectators who'd watched the duelling. "Well done to Mr Krum on his victory and, indeed, to all of our champions on their courage, skill, and determination." The Headmaster led the audience in applauding the champions.

When the applause died down, Dumbledore continued. "Next month we shall again see our champion in action. This time it will be a challenge that they will have to face the unknown; a true test of courage, skill, and wits.

"But first, we shall have the traditional Yule Ball led by our champions, sponsored by the British Ministry of Magic and hosted by our very own Boy-Who-Lived, Mr Harry Potter. Students of Fourth year and above are welcome to attend. Third years may only attend as the date of an older student. Now, I wish you good day." The old wizard walked of smiling as though he hadn't a care in the world.

"Barmy old coot," Shelia said in an aside to her partner. The two commentators left without a word to Harry although he saw them stop to wish their best to the Malfoys.

Harry had other concerns. As much as Padma and Hermione worried about his forced inclusion in the Tournament, even as a 'host', there was no way either of them were going to be willing to let him skip the Yule Ball.

That meant he was going to have to dance.

Bugger!

...

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