Chapter 83 — The Bouts
Chapter 83: The Bouts
Several days passed as if they were a single day. In my age group, I faced no meaningful opposition at all, and from what I observed in Fleur's group, there would be only a handful of true challengers to contend with. Still, those few would reach the final, which meant my opponent there would be worthy of the name. And in all probability, that opponent would be Fleur.
In any case, today would settle it.
Today was the final.
The referee called me and my opponent, a completely unremarkable-looking girl who had somehow made it through to the end. I confess I had not retained her name. I jest. Her name was Alisa Selezneva, from Russia, and she was quite good for a girl of eleven.
Good Lord. I was beginning to sound arrogant. But no, it was simply an honest assessment of my peers. I was perfectly aware that given the same start in life, any number of these children might have matched me in skill and strength. I had simply been fortunate.
"On the platform."
My opponent and I stepped up. I walked to the centre, as did she, and there I kissed the air above her hand. She gave a barely perceptible snort and a small curtsy, then we separated.
"Begin in three... two... one... start!"
She was good. She worked quickly, built interesting combinations, and her sequencing was thoughtful, but even she could not make me move from my spot. I used the same approach as before: counter-spells broke apart each attack, and those I chose to catch on the tip of my wand I sent back to her with a slight boost.
Ten minutes in, she fell after I drove a striking spell under her feet, crossing the boundary of the permitted movement zone.
"Stop! Winner: Draco Black, Great Britain!"
The stands erupted. I was already stepping forward to offer my hand and help her up. She knocked it aside and stood on her own. I simply shrugged. The crowd, however, was displeased by her reaction.
Understandable, really. I had been perfectly gentlemanly, and she... But I showed nothing and walked calmly off the platform and back to the box, where Fleur was already making her way out and her opponent was crossing from the far side of the stadium.
This was the bout worth watching.
His opening spell was an attempt to overwhelm Fleur with water magic. Fleur simply gave a thin smile. It was no coincidence that she had spent her semi-final grinding through exactly this kind of attack, countering it laboriously with fire. But this time,
A short lightning spell, and her opponent left the platform at considerable speed.
Silence.
Nobody had expected the final of the second age group to end that quickly. In our box, the applause came immediately, the moment her opponent went out of bounds. A moment later the rest of the stadium followed, at first hesitantly, then with growing enthusiasm.
"Well?"
Fleur came to stand beside me and looked at me with interest.
"Excellent. Well done."
"Mm."
She nodded with satisfaction.
"Yes, I'm good. Keep saying it."
"I'll praise you as much as you like, just be ready, because tomorrow I'm challenging you."
"I'll be ready."
She nodded, and we settled in to watch the remaining finals and consider who among our potential opponents posed the greatest difficulty.
The next age group's competitors stretched their bout to a full ten minutes, and unlike me, they held nothing back. It was spectacular and wonderfully varied. Looking at it now, I thought I had a real chance. It no longer seemed as impossible as it had the previous year. The same was true watching the seventeen-to-eighteen group.
Fleur and I studied our future opponents carefully, knowing those bouts would not be easy.
"What do you think?"
"I think we both have a real chance against the fifteen-to-sixteen winner. The seventeen-to-eighteen champion will be harder, a great deal harder. I think I can manage him. As for your chances against him..."
I shrugged.
"Forgive me, but I don't know your abilities well enough to assess them properly."
"Fleur has no chance."
Gabrielle said this with total confidence.
"No chance even against Paul from the next group up."
"Excuse me! You're my sister! You're supposed to be on my side!"
"Well..."
Gabrielle looked at Fleur with something like sympathy and patted her hand.
"Big brother is going to challenge you to a bout."
Fleur blinked in surprise, then transferred her gaze from Gabrielle to me and sighed.
"I hadn't thought of that."
"Right, enough of that attitude!"
I let my voice rise just slightly. Fleur frowned, then shook her head and gave a cheerful snort.
"Don't raise your voice at me. Remember, I'm a firebird. I can singe you."
"Oh, come off it. You're a firebird, yes, but you flew into your cage willingly and latched the door behind you. Don't try to frighten me."
"Pff."
"Hm. Fleur has fire, so what have I got?"
Penny looked at me with interest.
"Do you need something? Isn't it enough that I find you attractive exactly as you are?"
"Pff, you idiot."
She shook her head, but I could see she was pleased. After that we headed back to the restaurant for a romantic dinner and then off to bed.
In the morning we attended the medal ceremony.
"The Duelling Champion in the eleven-to-twelve age group, for the second year running, is Draco Black of Great Britain, trained by Filius Flitwick!"
The applause was deafening. I was fairly certain I heard an elderly voice somewhere in the crowd shrieking something I chose not to acknowledge.
"Duelling Champion in the thirteen-to-fourteen age group, a formidable competitor who already made her mark in the younger age group last year and even took the title once, Fleur Delacour, trained by Jean Delacour! France!"
More applause, though some of the shouts from the crowd were far from dignified.
"Duelling Champion in the fifteen-to-sixteen age group, Inna Liman, trained by Serge Cook, MUSA!"
Applause again. I noted, though, without diminishing her achievement in any way, that she had benefited from the fact that last year's finalists had both moved up to the next age bracket, and the runner-up from the year before that simply hadn't appeared at this tournament. She was good. I was simply being realistic about the field.
"Dueling Champion in the seventeen-to-eighteen age group, Alexei Korshunov, trained by Pyotr Koshcheev, Russia!"
And applause once more.
When it died down, the official who had just placed a medal around my neck turned to me.
"Would you like to say a few words?"
"Yes. I would like to issue a challenge to champion Fleur Delacour."
"We rather expected that, didn't we?"
He directed the last question at the stands, and a chorus of voices answered in enthusiastic agreement.
"If I may just ask."
I gave a nod.
"As I understand it, you and Miss Delacour are on very good terms. Are you not concerned that this challenge may damage that friendship?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"I'm not. Fleur and I have an agreement: here, first and foremost, we are wizards and duelists, and friends second. Besides, knowing her as I do, I suspect she would find it more offensive if I didn't challenge her."
"And what do you say to that, Miss Delacour?"
"I would say he'd have something coming to him if he held back on my account. If you don't fight a strong opponent, how do you grow as a duelist?"
"Well said."
A sardonic smile spread across the official's face.
"But will your friendship truly survive the test of a real duel? We're about to find out!"
Fleur and I took our places on the platform. The rules of the bout were read aloud for what felt like the hundredth time, then we stepped forward and walked in step towards the center, where I kissed the air above her hand while she gave an elegant curtsy.
"Good luck. May the strongest and cleverest prevail."
"Good luck. Victory will go to whoever outshines their opponent."
We separated, took our stances, exchanged brief bows, and readied ourselves.
"Bout begins in three... two... one... start!"
And we both exploded into action at once, exchanging volleys of spells and counter-spells.
I ducked my head to let a beam spell pass, caught a Slashing Hex on my shield, and sent back several counter-spells that broke apart an Explosive and a Fire spell, all while sending a Water spell at Fleur and raising cover against her likely counter, with good reason, as the moment my Water spell left my wand, she tried to counter with a Lightning Charm.
I answered with a blast of air: blades, a battering ram, and a volley of air bullets.
I had no intention of holding back, because that would have been an insult to Fleur. And knowing her level, she would turn any concession I offered into a victory. I wanted to win, which meant I had to give everything I had.
At some point I realized she was at her limit and began pressing harder. She was forced to stop attacking entirely, reduced to defense only, shield after shield. Then she moved to shields alone. And eventually I knocked the wand from her hand.
"Damn it."
She stood there, unable to catch her breath. In fairness, the bout had taken something out of me as well, not only because she was formidable, but because we knew each other's preferences well enough after a year's acquaintance. It had not been our first duel.
"And the winner of this bout, Draco Black! He is now the winner across two age groups! And now..."
The referee approached me and I gave a slight smile.
"I would like to issue a challenge to the champion of the next age group."
"Somehow we all knew you would say that, didn't we?"
That last was plainly addressed to the stands, which gave a resounding and enthusiastic reply.
"The bout will take place tomorrow."
I nodded. Fleur and I stepped down together and walked back to the box, where her parents and Gabrielle immediately pulled her into a hug.
"You fought brilliantly."
I smiled at Fleur, and once her parents had stepped back, I drew her into a hug myself. Penny decided to join this particular display of warmth and support.
"But it wasn't quite enough."
"You're right."
I smiled, and Fleur looked at me with a trace of injured pride.
"It wasn't quite enough. But you have clearly grown enormously compared to the Fleur who competed last year. The problem is I haven't been standing still either."
"Mm."
She looked down.
"Right, I propose dinner tonight. All together."
"I'm in."
Fleur gave a brief nod, and Penny had no objections to a restaurant either. We set off for a walk first, wanting to work up an appetite.
"Will you look at that. Isn't two hides a bit much for one little pup?"
I turned my head slightly, taking the measure of the situation (the speaker and everyone with him were clearly magical) and sighed.
"Apologize to my companions. Then you can go wherever you please."
"What?"
My wand was in my hand.
"I said you are a piece of work, and you either apologize to my companions and disappear, or you spend the next few months in the hospital being reassembled, after which you spend the rest of your life working to pay for your medication."
"Oh, you've got nerve. Do you even know who my family..."
"Hey, Günter."
One of the boy's companions stepped over and touched his shoulder.
"What, Olaf?"
"Don't. Just... apologize."
"What?!"
"I bought tickets to the dueling final, right? The boy is champion of the first two age groups, and the girl won the thirteen-to-fourteen category."
"So what?! There are fifteen of us!"
"You just haven't seen what they can do. And at the Championship they were limited by the rules."
"What's going on here?!"
A group of Aurors was already moving towards us.
"This creep and his..." the boy started.
I closed my eyes and gave a short flick of my wand, but the spell met a shield conjured by one of the Aurors. It was only at that point that the boy realized something had happened, and he stumbled backwards and sat down hard.
"Mr. Black, I understand this young man insulted your companions, but to kill him..."
"Kill him? No, no."
I shook my head.
He's insulted my companions twice now. Either I leave him a cripple who'll be working indefinitely to pay for his treatment, or I deal with his entire family.
"Do you know who my family is?!"
"I don't care."
I looked at the Auror.
"Perhaps it would be easiest to summon his parents, and yours if applicable, and settle this in a calmer setting?"
"Very well."
I closed my eyes.
It's much more convenient to deal with people once you can put faces to them.
------------------------------------------
Chapters on Patreon progress: Currently at;
1. Harry Potter: Satan? Nah, Just My Family Crest = CHAPTER 298
2.Marvel: Cosmic Forger of Infinity = CHAPTER 207
3.Harry Potter: Beyond Good and Evil in the Wizarding World = CHAPTER 299
4.Harry Potter: Reborn as Draco Black = CHAPTER 135
support me on Patreon for instant access to the 120+ advance chapters: patreon.com/redofic