The Final Trial P3
Boom.
An explosion rang through the maze, and the ferns along the walls shook violently, struggling to hold their shape. But before they could, suddenly a massive sword came crashing down on them, slicing them clean in half and forcing them apart. Even their magical regeneration seemed to fail under the sheer power of the cut, and at the same time, the ground split open into a huge crack, dust rising and covering much of the view.
Suddenly, a silver flash passed beside the sword, while several golden objects flew toward it.
Luciel, moving with surprising speed thanks to his enchanted boots, jumped back, holding his wand… or rather, his sword, and struck forward with inhuman speed at the objects that could barely be seen through the dust.
Upon impact, they were sent flying around him before falling and embedding themselves into the ground, revealing themselves as multiple swords of different sizes and shapes, each one made of solid, flawless gold.
Luciel's excited smile remained as he saw this, and he raised his gaze again just as a spear flew straight toward his chest at high speed.
Luciel shifted to the side, deflecting the spear with his blade while spinning at the same time.
Gold is not the most useful material for making weapons…
That's why it's usually used for jewelry and decoration.
But in the right hands, its malleability becomes something entirely different…
The massive sword that had just cut through the maze's fern wall suddenly seemed to melt into liquid gold, starting from his hand at the top. But before the liquid gold could touch the ground, it reshaped itself midair, forming several spears that immediately shot toward Luciel at astonishing speed, like arrows, though obviously much heavier.
Luciel gripped the handle of his sword with both hands and struck the tips of the spears, deflecting them before they could pierce him, but each impact made his hands grow slightly numb. Even so, neither his movements nor his smile stopped.
His gaze was locked onto the young man with pale blond hair, standing at the other end with both hands raised, surrounded by hundreds of solid gold weapons, as if conducting an orchestra with his fingers.
And every movement caused one of the spears to shift toward Luciel.
Luciel quickly activated the speed enchantment on his boots, which he had recovered from a golem earlier, and even while deflecting the spears and swords flying at him, he ran straight toward Draco.
Draco maintained a calm expression, even as Luciel seemed capable of closing the distance, defending against his attacks with impressive ease.
When Luciel was just a few meters away, Draco suddenly paused his hands in the air for a moment before slowly raising one.
Suddenly, all the weapons in the field seemed to vibrate for an instant before lifting slowly from the ground at the motion of his hands, while Luciel came to an abrupt stop as he saw them all rising.
Then, each and every one of them pointed their blades toward him, while Draco gave him a faint, almost wicked smile.
"You're all really the same," Luciel said with a slight, strained smile, but without fear.
Even if Draco seemed the calmest of their group, there was a reason he belonged to that chaotic bunch.
Draco didn't even respond. After all, this competition wasn't about defeating your opponent, but about reaching the cup first, so there was no point wasting too much time before the others could catch up.
He lowered one of his hands, while the other remained raised, palm facing Luciel.
And he closed it.
Ready to end that fight.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side of the maze, another battle was taking place.
Spells flew like shrapnel at an incredible speed, shooting from the tip of a beautiful young woman's wand, as she cast spells so quickly they were almost impossible to distinguish from one another.
Her opponent should have been pierced by that barrage of dozens of spells per second…
But instead, he stood there calmly.
Holding his wand and moving it in different directions, deflecting each spell with complete ease, while explosions erupted all around him; blasts, transformations, branches bursting from the ground trying to restrain him…
But he simply deflected another one of the girl's spells and destroyed the root with ease.
Without taking a single step.
If it weren't for the fact that he himself had widened the battlefield, pushing the maze walls back, the entire place would probably be in flames by now, judging by the explosion unleashed from the last spell he deflected.
"Wow… are you trying to kill a young wizard? That's pretty mean of you, don't you think?" Harry said in a slightly pained tone… obviously fake.
"Stop playing," Fleur shouted, clearly frustrated, feeling like Harry wasn't taking her seriously at all, even though she was giving it everything she had.
If she wasn't physically strong like Luciel, who was a monster that had trained with a sword since he was five, nor as naturally talented as Harry or Draco, the only things she truly took pride in were her casting speed and her natural charm as a half-veela.
But neither of those seemed to work on Harry.
And the worst part…
It all looked like a game to him.
"I'm taking it seriously. I said I'd take everything you throw at me, right? Look, I'm not even dodging," Harry said with a smile, tapping his feet lightly to show he hadn't moved from his spot. The only thing he was doing was moving his wand, deflecting Fleur's spells.
Meanwhile, on the screens in the sky, every visitor in the stands was watching both battles with excitement. Luckily for them, they couldn't hear what the fighters were saying to each other… because everyone would have one thing very clear; Harry is pretty damn mean.
Only Daphne and Hermione, who were in the stands with their families, looked at each other for a moment, as if they knew exactly what Harry was saying.
"He… seems to be going a bit overboard with his revenge," Hermione said, unable to stop herself from feeling a little bad for Fleur. Harry could exaggerate sometimes, but this time… he might've gone too far.
"Well… he did seem pretty annoyed since the last time they split up. Maybe… yeah, he's a jerk," Daphne said, not finding a better way to put it.
"Wooo!" Tommy shouted not too far away, watching how his brother seemed to have no trouble dealing with Fleur, while throwing a look toward Luna and Astoria. But they still had that victorious smile, which made Tommy hesitate for a moment, frowning.
Meanwhile, Billy looked away, slightly embarrassed by his older brother's shameless behavior.
Wanda, their mother, looked at her son on the screen for a brief moment, letting out a soft sigh as she shook her head.
Meanwhile, Ludo, being the great commentator he was, shouted excitedly at every display of the champions' skills.
"Look at that! Those kids seem to have been holding back this entire time! This really is a battle of titans!" Ludo yelled, pointing toward the screen showing Draco and Luciel fighting.
The latter suddenly cast a spell into the ground, shaping a stone sword for himself, and then, with both swords, moved across the battlefield while a rain of golden weapons fell toward him, deflecting them with both hands before disappearing from his position at high speed and reappearing somewhere else, avoiding being surrounded from every angle while controlling where the attacks were coming from.
"They're overdoing it too," Hermione added, watching Draco's screen, though she couldn't help cheering for him in her heart. But she didn't say it out loud, so Daphne wouldn't give her that look she had been giving her lately whenever she saw them close.
"If they don't hurry, someone else will win this tournament," Daphne said lightly, shifting her gaze toward another screen, where Viktor could be seen running through the maze, only pausing briefly when he heard the explosions shaking the entire place, before quickly continuing, avoiding every encounter with golems or creatures that crossed his path, since his strength was speed, not fighting.
Ludo seemed to think the same.
"Mr. Viktor seems to have the advantage. Though with all this destruction, it looks like the maze has been forced to change its paths… will he be the first to reach it?" Ludo said, raising the excitement of Viktor's supporters even more.
He was genuinely thrilled with this competition, because just as he had hoped, it had turned into a complete spectacle. Even so, he couldn't help glancing at the screen that had gone dark before looking toward one of the Ministry employees, gesturing at him.
But he only got a confused look in return.
Sirius also looked at that dark screen for a moment, then turned his gaze toward Wanda with a serious expression.
Wanda, seeming to understand his question, replied quietly, "He's still in the maze, but he's standing in the same spot… not doing anything," she said, focusing her gaze on the last competitor, Marton.
He was standing still, eyes closed, as if concentrating or warming up… but doing nothing else.
Sirius nodded, feeling like maybe he was overthinking things and that it was just the screens malfunctioning.
Once again, he shifted his gaze to Harry's screen, letting out a small sigh.
"They really are father and son… their ways are almost the same," he said, looking at Harry with a faintly amused expression, while Fleur was absolutely furious; if she were a full veela, she probably would've already transformed into one of those creatures.