Chapter 14: Chapter14
I woke up feeling fully rested. Today was finally the day. I took a shower and dressed in some ordinary muggle clothes before making his way down for breakfast. The wizarding part of the Four Seasons Hotel had its own separate breakfast buffet.
Flitwick was already sitting at a table reading a French newspaper.
"Good morning Jon, I hope you are feeling well today?"
"I do, Professor. I am ready."
"That's excellent to hear, but please, call me Filius when we are not at school and happy birthday Jon."
I thanked my dueling mentor and helped myself to some breakfast.I had at least four duels ahead of him and would need all the energy he could get.
"Your first duel is due to take place at 11:00. We should leave in about 30 minutes to get you properly registered and checked up."Says Filius
I nodded in agreement a silently went back to my food and got my backpack ready for the day.
Then I met Flitwick at the lobby and we made our may to we arrived at the apparition point and I took a look around. There were people everywhere, happily chatting about the upcoming duels.
Makes sense after all the Under-14 and Under-16 championships started today. I watched as people from all over Europe exchanged greetings with friends and families alike. I could hear different languages everywhere, a couple of boys his age spoke German, while a few girls were chatting in quick French. It was truly an international event.
I should have learned the language in my free time but there's always time for that.
Flitwick led me over to the contestants' entrance. They were stopped by a man at the entrance.
"Names and country, please." The man asked in French.
"Filius Flitwick and Jon Snow from magic Britain. Mr. Snow is a contestant for the Under-14 Championship." Flitwick replied in French.
"Very well, Monsieur Snow please step inside and hand your wand to the officials for registration." The man said in a thick French accent.
I nodded, thanked the man, and stepped through the contestants' entrance. I then found myself in a large hall. Along the walls were reserved spots for each participant in the dueling championship. Most of the kids seem to be older than my age.
It was a roughly equal mix between boys and girls.
They stepped to the front desk, where some officials were skimming through parchments. I reluctantly handed over my wand.
"Nine inches, made of redwood. The core is Dragons heartstring. Bought two years ago from Ollivanders in Britain?" The official asked.
I nodded
"Good, it seems to be in good condition. We declare is usable for the duration of the tournament. Please take this needle and provide a single drop of your blood for us. We will check it for any illegal potions and supplements."
I pinched his thumb and let a single drop of his blood fall into the small vial. The officials cast a bunch of diagnostic charms on it.
"You are hereby declared fit to compete. Your first duel will be in 30 minutes at 11:00 am on Platform Two. Your opponent is Juliette Perrin, from Beauxbaton Academy, France."
I thanked the official and made his way over to the section of the wall that read, 'Snow, Britain'. Filius cast a strong notice me not charm and turned to me.
"Perrin is a first-time participant, just like you. You have very good chances. The French usually favor a flexible style, alternating between attacking and defending. Be prepared for everything."
"It would not have mattered, even if she was the champion. I will not lose a single match today."
I replied calmly, determination set on his face. He sat in a meditative position and did some last-minute exercises to clear his mind and tap deep into his magic core.
Slowly the adrenaline for the upcoming fight started kicking in. This is where Jon felt comfortable. This was exactly what he had wanted.
At ten to eleven, I changed into my dueling uniform and tied my Nikes even tighter. At five minutes to eleven Flitwick and I made our way to platform two. The last duel had just finished and the eyes of the crowd were on me as I stepped in.
His deep black outfit turned lots of heads towards him. Whereas most of his competitors wore colors representing their nation or school, Jon stood out wearing his black form-fitting robes with my personal on my back and chest.
I cast a glance at his opponent. The girl, Perrin, was taller than him, but 2 years further at Beauxbaton. She seemed confident, giving me a sneer as they met next to the referee. The referee explained the rules to both competitors and sternly told them to abide by his commands at all times. Finally, they were told to climb the platform, just as the announcer started.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the first duel in the Under-14 category. Today we will hold the group stages, meaning each of the 50 competitors will have four duels, of which they must win two, in order to progress and fight tomorrow.
Our first duel is between Ms. Juliette Perrin of Beauxbaton Academy, France, and Jon Snow of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Britain. Please welcome our competitors!"
A cheer went around the stadium and people everywhere started pointing at me I blocked out everything around me and focused my mind on the duel and my opponent in front of me.
No more playing around.I took my familiar stance.
Perrin also took position and I waited for the beginning of the duel. Deep breaths increased his blood flow and I felt the magic and anticipation in every single one of his cells.
"Competitors, get ready!"
"Begin!"
"Lets dance"I say throwing a 'stunner' chained into a 'bonebreaker' into another 'stunner'. She then does the wrong move and shields I counter by doing a 'bombarda' into a 'stunner' into an 'expelliarmus' destroying her shield and stunning her and knocking her wand from her hand I then summon her wand into my hand.
Winner Jon Snow in two minutes
"Quick and efficient, Jon, just as we discussed. This might only be a teen's tournament, but dueling is primarily a way for you to gain practical combat experience.
None of those fancy rules and regulations matter when you face a Death Eater or Dark Lord in the future. Abide by their rules to a degree where they cant disqualify you, but never go easy on your opponents. I am proud of you."says Flitwick
I nodded in and smiled to my mentor and together we sat on the stands reserved for the participants. I had won my first duel. The first out of four. Time to watch his opponents and analyze what he was up against.
The next match was an Under-16 duel. None of the competitors showed any advanced skills that I could not deal with. If this was all the older years had to offer I would wipe the floor with any of them.
Fifteen minutes later another match in his age group took place. Paul Leitner a German, attending Dumstrang faced off against Enrico Romez a Spaniard.
I will reluctantly agreed that Leitner was very good. Far better than any student his age, he had faced so far. He noticed that his technique was almost perfect, but he lacked the raw magic power that I possessed in abundance. Still, Leitner would make a formidable opponent.
Leitner was declared the winner and next-up, matches in both age groups were held simultaneously. I turned his head to the two Under-14 competitors, Sven Jorg and Dimitri Vanko, that were about to face off on Platform One when something caught my eye a girl with platnum blonde hair walked the girl had a pull about her that made most of the men in the arena look toward her in awe.
It was a veela
"So Beauxbaton has a veela competing in the under 16."I say aloud
"So you know of veela to very suprising of you Mr.Snow."says Flitwick
"I read about them in a book the question though is if her oponent can regain his senses enough to be able to fight back."
"That is the question I am supprised your occlumency skill can withstand her allure."
"I am at a decent level and the boy won't win her allure is too powerful for him."I say as the duel comes to a close with the veela summoning her opponents wand.
The girl moved from the platform towards where Flitwick and I were seated. She seemed proud of her recent win but still annoyed at the drooling men around her. One of the boys, a tall blond, approached her and seemed to ask her a question.
The girl responded angrily to whatever the boy had said to her and tried to move away. The blond boy must not have liked her reaction, as he gripped her arm and held her firmly in place.
Within a second, her wand was in her hand and she fired a Stinging Hex to the man's groin, who groaned in pain as he fell to his knees.
The people around her were shocked by her violent respondence, but I started chuckling. The Veela seemed to notice his chuckles and shot him a glare, but her expression changed as her eyes met his.
I stared into the beautiful dark blue eyes of the veela. They were captivating and it took all some willpower to pull myself out of his trance. But after a second I snapped out of it my occlumens doing its job.
The veela look at me regarding him with a curious look, as if she was evaluating him.
She continued her walk, ignoring the stares all around her, and gave him one last look over her shoulder as she left the main stadium.
"That was an interesting confrontation, Jon. At first, I thought I had lost you to her Allure for a second.
From such a short distance and especially if she is looking at you, it can be a lot more powerful. But that was not it, was it?"
"I should thank her she just upped occlumency with her just being there her unintentional attack boasted my shields a level."
"Ah at least something good came out of that interaction."
My next opponent was waiting for me a boy from Dumstrang he was 2 years older than me also and had a broad build."
"Competitors, get ready!"
"Begin!"
"Lets dance"
I immedate fire an 'bone breaker' followed by an 'expelliarmus' then a 'shield breaker' followed by a 'concussion charm' to my suprise he just sits there and shields like an idot the 'disarming' and 'bone breaker' die on his shield but the 'shield breaker' does its job and the boy is hot by the 'concussion charm' and then while he is concussed I hit him with a 'expelliarmus' and 'accio' his wand.
"Winner Jon Snow 2 minutes and 30 seconds"
Next duel was against against a girl from Italy
Competitors, get ready!"
"Begin!"
"lets dance"
I fire a spell chain of a 'ruducto', 'expelliarmus' and a 'bone-breaker' she dodges out of the way of the reducto and expelliarmus and bonebreaker combo (I then start smiling like a mad man at that moment) I then run to plan b and fire an incendio a gout of flame relases from my wand which she has to shield and I take that oppurtunity to throw a shield breaker bone breaker combo followed by an expelliarmus.
She trys to jump out of the way of the way but I send a incarcous at her rapping her up.
"Winner Jon Snow 2 minutes and a briliant display."
Next match Markus Eiche from Switzerland
"Competitors, get ready!"
"Begin!"
"Lets dance"
A change of pace from my other matches my opponent started out by attacking with several spells that I dodge out of the way of he kept up that tempo and I shielded and jumped to the side of the attack and roll out of the way of his next spell I then take the offensive firing a three 'reductos' and a 'bonebreaker' at him followed by a 'stupefy'.
He dodges the reductios but he is hit by the 'bone breaker' into in his ribs as he starts bleeding out and before he can die I run over and do the counter curse of 'Bone mending' to heal him before he can die.
I then give his unconscious form one last look and walk back to Flitwick.
The rest of the day passed by. I watched my other competitors duel each other and the occasional match in the Under-16 category. I saw the Veela girl two more times and found out that it was Fleur Delacour.
What are the chances that the a triwizard champion would be here of all places.
The next day, I woke up in a good mood. Flitwick had been called back to the officials late last night while I enjoyed his hot bath in the hotel room. The charms professor briefed me on what had happened last night
"You were almost disqualified for the way you used that bone breaker but they had no legal reason to do so you shouldnt give them anymore reason to disqualify you.
"Yes sir I promised that I would win and I will."
"You do that Jon."
"After yesterday, 32 competitors out of the 50 progressed to the next stage. Today, you will therefore have only two duels. As you know, it is direct elimination.
After the first round, only 16 Competitors will be left and after the second, only eight. The top eight will face each other in the quarter-finals tomorrow.
The final duel between the best two will be held tomorrow night at 6:00 pm. Right before the Under-16 Final, which will be the main event of the evening." Flitwick added
Flitwick just nodded, pleased with the answer. I grabbed my backpack and together they apparated to the arena. His first match started soon.
The arena was a lot more crowded than last time. It seemed people were more interested in the elimination rounds than the group stage. My first match was against Denis Fortier, another Frenchman.
Fortier seemed to be a fan favorite, as he stepped on the platform, greeted by cheers from all over the stadium. I made my way up as well.
The duel started soon and Fortier opened with a couple of Banishing Charms, followed up by a Stunner.
I dodged them not bothering with a shield and gained more distance between us and fired an overpower augamenti at him him following it up with a Glacius to freeze that water locking Fortier into place unable to move.
That was a pretty simple win he was trash.
"Jon Snow with another win in just 90 seconds."said the annoucer
Another three hours passed and I was starting to feel restless so I practiced some occlumancy to calm down while I was doing that Paul Leitner and Fleur won their matches.
Stefanos Marinaki from the Greek Island Crete. His opponent was skilled, but no match for him.
I subdued Marinaki, hitting his shields repeatedly with Shield Breakers and finally connecting with a disarming charm. He waited to be declared the winner and tossed the wand back to his opponent.
Flitwick congratulated him and the two left the arena to grab some dinner in a French restaurant next to the Louvre. Jon was happy with himself.
Today had been a success and he had entered the top eight competitors. He would rest for the night and gather his strength for the final duels tomorrow
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