Chapter 10: Chapter 10
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They started their journey forward, making their way into the massive stone structure that suddenly came into view when they crossed an invisible line.
It didn't come as a surprise to him, having seen and experienced many such wards in his time. The other kids however, made appreciative sounds of awe and shock.
"This," James spread his arms wide. "Is the Dueling chamber of France. One of the grandest of its kind, this chamber has witnessed some really legendary duels. People from all over the continent make their way here each month, hoping to carve their names in it's memorials. In the last 10 years, the European championship was hosted in this very chamber for 5 times, the highest of any country."
Towering over in front of them was a dome-like structure with a pointed top, standing around 70-80 feets in height. Completely Royal blue in colour, the entire thing glittered with a strange hue under the rays of sun. Exotic runes were carved upon it's surface, all the way up top, visible even from the ground.
All in all, it looked like an ancient structure, if said structure was renovated to be more luxurious...and modern in some ways too.
"The French created this barely a few centuries ago, but decided to make it similar to the ancient dueling chambers, only with modern facilities." James informed them as they came to a stop behind a long line of people.
The stream of people were a mixed bunch. Most of them were french wizards and witches, but Harry also saw quite a few foreigners like them.
The line wasn't organised or anything, and both the Potter and Longbottom families stood together in a group, with Lily dropping back beside him.
"Hi!" She greeted with an excited smile as the line slowly moved forward.
"Hullo, mother." He replied, before smirking slightly as the woman's eyes widened in happiness.
While he himself placed little to no value in the word 'Mother' itself, it seemed to mean a lot to Lily. And she showed how much it exactly meant everytime he said it.
"So, did you need something?" He asked casually. The two of them were at the rear end of their group, so it gave them just a bit of privacy. "Or were you looking to pass the time?"
The rest of their group was absent in their own things. The kids stood together in the middle with Alice, while James and Frank brought the front.
Lily leaned closer to him as if to tell a secret, and he bent down slightly for her to reach his ears. "I just wanted to ask if you're sure about participating today."
Harry turned to his mother quizzically. "Of course. Why ever would you ask that?"
"Well...Bella's informed me of your...recent changes. If you participate today you won't be able to keep your... abilities, a secret. Even Bella and I can't do anything to cover this up. The Annual European championship is a big deal, so if you intend to make a splash, you're almost guaranteed to become famous."
Harry frowned, mulling the words over while Lily tenderly placed her head upon his shoulder.
Would it make a difference in his mission if the world knew what he was capable of? Well, no. Tommy had his own problems right now, so he wouldn't be reading some random french newspapers to find information about a Potter.
Plus, Harry wasn't The-Boy-Who-Lived here. Jacob was. Even if he does become famous, Tommy should have no reason to care. And it's not like he intended to reveal everything he was capable of.
His main goal today was to experiment with his newly enhanced physique, and put his recently studied magical theories to practice. Not just the ones Bella recommended, but also some of the magic that Sly!Harry had learnt in all these years.
Basically, he'd be treating this tournament as his testing ground, familiarising himself with some new streams of magic. Sly!Harry had a very solid grasp on Transfiguration, having delved into N.E. levels of theory. Now it came upon him to transform all that knowledge into use.
So honestly, he'd only be showing a small part of his true level. Plus this way, he could ease people to his new level of skill and avoid any major suspicions later on.
His mind settled, he turned to Lily, who still had her face buried in neck.
"I think I'm fine with it. If any ministry officials come, I'll handle them myself so no worries."
"Well, if you're sure." She turned slightly, giving a lazy smile and looking about to doze off on his shoulder any second.
Snorting, he reluctantly put his arm around her body while adjusting her head properly. "Was this just an excuse for you to use me as a pillow?"
She just snuggled deeper. "...Maaaybe?"
Shaking his head, he ignored the redhead as their turn finally came.
He didn't know what type of competition he might be facing, but he wasn't worried too much. Absently, his thoughts turned to another french girl that he knew of, and he wondered if he would get to meet Fleur today.
Fleur...now that was a sad subject. She'd been one of the few that Voldemort had kept alive to punish him. It had hit even someone as Jaded as Harry hard, when he first laid witness to the ruined and naked sight of the French Veela in middle of Hogwart's courtyard...
She'd been treated like an animal, which Voldemort and his army actually believed her to be. Her and her kind. The blasted Dark Lord had given her away as a plaything, and publicly displayed her ruined and damaged body as a message.
But not this time. This time, Tommy will pay. For her and hundreds like her. He will pay, and Harry will make sure of it.
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The European championship was famed to birth legends. One such legend was Bellatrix Black, the winner of 657th edition of the Championship, who was still widely regarded as the greatest duelist of this generation.
Every year, the best of the the best arrive to compete for Fame, Glory, and a grand prize that changes with it's host.
One thing that remains common though, is that the tournament's always divided into three rank: Open, Under-18, and Under-14.
Another common thing was the list of spells that can be used in the tournament. Which meant only a set no. of spells were allocated for each rank, and anything outside of this will result in the offender getting automatically disqualified. It was done due to how obscure and varied magic was, making it difficult to judge if some lethal spell could be branded as dark.
For U-14, only 40 basic spells were listed as usable. For U-18, that no. increased to 84. Only the Open section didn't have any such stipulations, as apart from the unforgivables, everything else was allowed.
Currently in the tournament, the U-18 section was in full swing, with 256 participants fighting in front of an audience of over 10 thousand people, all (Except 2) hoping to impress the crowd and win the tournament.
One of the participant who couldn't care less about the crowd was, of course, Harry Potter. He'd just finished defeating his 7th opponent of the day and was looking forward to the finale.
None of his opponents till now had been particularly challenging, all ranging from Lvl 2 to Lvl 3 duellers. The only one that lasted more than a few exchanges against him was one, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, a 7th year student from beauxbatons who the commentator announced as a Lvl 4.
The other participant who cared not for the crowd, was the two times former U-17 Champion Fleur Delacour.
She was a familiar face to most who've kept up with Dueling. The French beauty has been fighting since she was 11 afterall, having won U-14 tournament three times in a row, and now continuing her domination in the bigger section.
So it came as no surprise to her when the crowd cheered her on as she took to stage for the final round.
But while the crowd enjoyed her presence, Fleur's mind was somewhere else entirely.
'A Delacour never loses.'
Her father's words resounded in her mind as she climbed the stage to face her opponent.
'A Delacour never loses.'
These were the words she'd grown up hearing the most. To lose was to bring dishonor to their family. To lose was to show weakness to the enemy. To lose...was to shame her father.
And Henri Delacour did not like being ashamed.
Her opponent was three years younger than her, but had shown himself to be incredibly formidable.
With long raven dark hairs neatly placed behind his ears, and startlingly vibrant green eyes full of confidence, he looked like a handsome supermodel more suited in one of their french magazines than on this stage.
Harry Potter, Fleur remembered his name. She usually didn't like knowing her opponents name, it made them too human, but this one stuck due to the fame of house Potter.
She cannot lose to one of them. This fact had been properly forced in her mind.
Anything related to a Potter was bound to be in tomorrow's newspaper all over the continent, most likely making the front page. Losing to them would show the Delacour family as weak in the eyes of the entire Europe. Which would make Henri Delacour quite displeased. And when her father became displeased, he tend to...punish her.
And so she must win. Just like she always did.
It was a good thing that the other two Potters were already out of the tournament. Dorea Potter had been a strong opponent, clearly Lvl 4. But Fleur's experience and skills won out in the end, and she ended up defeating the eldest Potter child in the semi-finals.
Jacob Potter, on the other hand, was considerably less impressive than his two siblings. Just a basic Lvl 3 Dueller, he'd been defeated by some random french witch in the round of 32. Lvl 3 for a 14 year old was still impressive no doubt, but it was nothing compared to his twin brother.
Harry Potter will prove to be a true challenge. But she will prevail in the end, like she always did.
But even as she climbed the stage, hearing the cheers of thousands, knowing exactly what was on the line, her heart was not in it.
Even as she called for her magic, letting the comforting warmth and power spread through her body, she did not feel alive.
This was like a routine to her now, instead of the passion that it had once been. Dueling was something that she'd always wanted, but winning was something that has been forced on her, taking away any joy that she felt from this sport long ago.
Once upon a time, a powerful opponent like Harry Potter would've made her excited. Made her look forward to fighting, and specially, enjoying the challenge that came with it.
Now it was just a job. No matter how powerful of an opponent, she will defeat them. Because she has to.
She knew just how happy their rivals would be if she lost of course. Knew how they would pounce on the opportunity and try to besmirch their reputation, Knew her father wasn't pushing her on simply due to his own insanity...but even knowing all this didn't make a difference to her
She was just tired of it all. Tired of these fights, tired of the crowd...and most importantly, tired of her father. To be honest, a part of her was hoping her young opponent could defeat her.
Sure, her father would hit her for losing, but so what? She just didn't care anymore. The ambition that has turned her once happy family into this dysfunctional toxic thing, the politics that forced them to calculate everything they did, even the crowd that just liked watching two children try to blast each other to death...it was all just a game to them.
And a nightmare to Fleur. And she was about done with it all.
Sometimes, the idea of simply slitting her throat didn't seem all that bad to her.
"Participants, get ready!" The ref bellowed, and she took this time to remind herself of her opponent's skills, trying to build up a feasible plan.
Harry Potter fought unlike anyone she'd ever met. He used basic spells to great effects. Most of his spells were those that were listed in U-14 section, and can be learnt easily enough by most decent wizards. But the way he utilised them, and the way he fought...it reminded Fleur of aurors.
As she kept staring at the boy though, she was hit with a sudden realisation. There was just something different about him. The expression on his face...
Fleur Delacour had always been an excellent judge of character. She didn't need legilimency to know what other people thought of her.
And as she looked in the younger boy's eyes, she noticed that hidden beneath the cold and calm of his occlumency was...sadness.
'Yes', she confirmed. He looked sad. Sad and melancholy. Almost as if he knew her and wished to help...but couldn't. Regret and sadness.
It sparked a rare moment of hope in her that she quickly squashed with a shake of her head. Her days weren't that bad that she must drag a 14 year old in her troubles.
The boy most likely had a bad day or something. She'd just look like a weirdo by pouring her heart out to a stranger.
No, she was here to do a job, and that job was to win.
The rest? Well...the rest is up to fate.
But one thing was clear; her troubles wouldn't get solved by themselves. She needed to take a stand for herself.
Or else...or else the choice would be taken out of her hands, and she would have a very dark and depressing future indeed.
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