Chapter 110: A Changing of the Guard
Dark Arts Classroom, March 7th
"Potter, Schaeuble you're up next," Professor Rosier said, bringing about a series of whispers from the students.
Rising up from his seat, Harry made his way up to the dueling platform, his face a blank mask. As he stood on the platform, he appraised his opponent. Bernice Schaeuble was a slightly plump looking witch, who was known more for her ability with Charms than the Dark Arts. Rumor had it she was particularly gifted with the confundus charm, not that he would give her the opportunity to cast it.
As the two faced each other, Harry reached out with his fledgling talents at Legilimency. While he was still uncomfortable splitting his focus enough to use it during duels, he could get an early read on his opponent fairly easily. It took less than a second for Harry to sense that Bernice was more than a little bit intimidated by him.
After a very short bow, Harry took up his new dueling stance and prepared for Professor Rosier to start the duel. Across from him, he could tell Bernice was still uncertain how to approach his new dueling style.
While the platform had a silencing charm placed around it, a single glance into the crowd told Harry that his classmates were still confused about the changes he'd made a few weeks ago. He'd spent a lot of time working to incorporate a more aggressive approach into his dueling, and he finally felt comfortable enough to go all out without holding back in case something went wrong.
While at first glance his base form appeared the same – with his body turned to the side in a typical defensive stance – there were several subtle differences that spoke to Harry's more aggressive style. Instead of standing tall with his wand pointed down towards the ground, an excellent defensive form. Harry's legs were now bent at the knees, allowing for quick movements at the start of the duel, and his wand arm was held shoulder length across his body, making curses easier to cast than shields.
"You will start," Professor Rosier said, "in 3...2...1...begin."
Without hesitating, Harry slashed his arm across his body, firing a cutting curse at his opponent, who had to duck to avoid it. Stepping forward, Harry launched into a minor spell chain. A cutting spell, banishment charm, and stunner flew from his wand before Bernice could so much as rise up to her feet. Her rushed Protego absorbed the first two spells, but was quickly brought down by the stunner.
Before she had a chance to recover, Harry sent a bone splintering curse at her crouched form. She attempted to dive to the side in order to avoid, but the spell caught Bernice in the ribs, causing her to fall to the ground grasping her side in pain. Harry's quick stunner rendered her unconscious, and ended the duel immediately.
Breathing deeply, Harry did his best to keep his emotions in check as he walked off the platform. All around him, his peers stared at him with a varying degree of shock, apprehension, and, for those few who knew they would duel him in the coming weeks, fear. He'd never been so outwardly aggressive in any of his duels, and Harry could practically see the more talented duelists already trying to work out how to deal with this new version of Harry Potter.
Weekly Power Status
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