Chapter 44: 44
"Welcome home harry." Sirius stood at the door with wide open arms and rushed towards a young boy with wild midnight black hair and bright green eyes.
"Oof." Harry grunted lightly as he caught the speeding Sirius in a hug.
"Ok, let go. Let go. Im not going to disappear." Harry tapped on Sirius's back asking to let go.
"Look at you. You're so tall and fit. You look just like James did at your age. Doesn't he Mooney. Look at him." Sirius let go of the hug and pinched Harry's cheek as Remus looked on from the side, supressing a smile.
"Alright. I think that's enough. Let the kid rest. He just travelled for hours on a train here." Remus interjected after seeing Harry almost give up to the jostling by Sirius.
"Thank you. Now, let me go clean up, and we'll discuss what to do next." Harry ran off to his room while rubbing his face where Sirius pinched.
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"Hows you treatment going? I can see that you can now easily move around and your body's being nourished properly. But how about your magic?" Harry asked as he sat down in the living room with the two marauders.
"My body's fitter than before Azkaban. For my magic, its stagnated a lot, but I was able to get my groove back slightly. Still getting there though." Sirius turned serious and explained his condition.
"Long term suppression of mana has some bad effects. At least you didn't go mad like the others." Remus added from the side.
"Yeah. I could see so many come in sane but by the end of the year, they would stand on equal grounds with Bellatrix.
Those dementors didn't help either." Sirius shuddered, trying to get the memory out of his head.
"What was your skill level before Azkaban?" Harry asked.
"I could easily go toe to toe with Voldy's lieutenants back then. Now, I would say I would be defeated by them in less than 2 minutes." He replied sadly.
"Well, why don't we test your condition now. You up for a spar." Harry asked with a small smile.
"A spar with you? Don't kid yourself. I know I have regressed, but not enough to equal a 2nd year student." Sirius brushed it off.
"Padfoot, you might want to revaluate that statement. He would absolutely crush you, without using any spells. Don't underestimate him." Remus warned.
"You know Mooney, your jokes back then weren't that funny, it seems there was no further improvement in that field." Sirius joked.
"How about this. We spar for 5 minutes. If you win, I'll buy you a motorcycle that's heaps better than the one you gave Hagrid, how about it?" Harry offered.
"Sure, but you better have the bike, I don't want false promises." Sirius agreed.
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An hour later, the trio were standing in a huge gymnasium that Harry had booked.
A volleyball net was set up in the middle, which harry levitated out of the way and waved his wand around, setting up various barriers and wards around the gym.
After a few minutes, the gymnasium could withstand even a nuclear blast and still be standing, however, the wards would go down in just under an hour. Harry's mana was still limited.
"Alright Remus, you be the ref. We'll spar for 5 minutes, no restrictions on spells, and go as hard as you can. Got it?" Harry asked as he stood on one side of the wooden court.
"Sure. But you have your potions on you right. I don't want to hurt you again." Sirius asked with concern.
"You wont have to worry about that. I left a big stash with Remus, and there's more in my mokeskin pouch. Now, lets start."
"Three, Two,.." Remus started his countdown.
Harry got in a peculiar stance, while Sirius gripped a red oak wand with dragon heartstring core, and got in a duelling stance.
It looked a lot like a knight's sword stance rather than the usual fencing stance.
"One."
Sirius inched forward as did harry, with his wand still in its holster on his forearm.
"DUEL." Remus announced.
A red light shot out of Sirius's wand and headed towards harry, who slightly tilted to dodge before sprinting towards the animagus.
Sirius moved quickly, spamming spells trying to hit harry, with mixing in a few slashes, creating a few grooves on the wooden floor.
Boom. Slash, cut.
"Doing good Pup. But do you only know how to dodge." Sirius taunted as he sent out slashes mixed with blasters towards harry. He truly looked like a knight battling.
"With your slow casting time, I can easily dodge. Why waste time responding." Harry continued running towards Sirius, moving erratically, moving at speeds hard to see with the naked eye.
"Gottcha" Sirius thrust his other hand towards Harry, predicting his moves and sending a blast of mana.
"No you don't." Harry jumped and did a flip, swatting the incoming wandless mana burst.
Just as harry's feet touched the ground, he disappeared from the spot, leaving behind shimmering air.
"What, where is he." Sirius looked around, trying to locate him, sending out a quick variation of humano revelio.
"Behind youuu" Harry announced in singsong manner as he sent a kick to the man's trunk.
"Damnit" Sirius tried to block the kick by raising his hands, but to no effect, he was sent blasting back 5 meters.
"Holy shit, pup. What was that spell. I felt like I got hit by goblin steel." Sirius cradled his arm and cursed.
"Perks of being a Metamorphmagus. Want to learn it, you have to be able to beat me," Harry taunted and disappeared from his spot.
"Oof." Sirius jumped back as he sensed danger in front, but he reacted too late.
"Don't rely on your wand, its just going to hinder you. Let the mana flow freely, let it seep inside your body and come at me. Let the mana guide you as you try to attack." Harry instructed seeing Sirius tumbling away.
"Ptui. That hurt." Sirius spat out saliva as he looked at Harry.
"Expulso" Sirius thrusted his wand hand towards harry quickly, expecting him to dodge.
Swat. BOOM
"What did I just say. Let your wand go." Harry swatted the spell away with a glow on his hands, causing an explosion to the side.
"Lets do this. Lets try hand to hand combat. Try to reinforce mana into your muscles. Try that." Harry suggested.
"What the hell. Lets do it." Sirius, thinking about it for a second, holstered his wand and stood up shakily.
A second later, he stood up straighter than before, filled with power.
To the inexperienced eyes, there would be a change in Sirius, but to harry's and remus's, Sirius's body was oozing with mana, with mana flying off like vapour.
"That's better. Get ready." Harry rushed towards Sirius with his fists raised and aimed at his face.
The fist was blocked, but the shock travelled further. Harry followed with a kick to the stomach, which connected, not before Sirius twisted and launched a high kick to harry's face.
Bammm.
Two bangs were heard, one when harry's leg connected with sirius's back, and the second when sirius's kick struck harry's neck.
The mana emitted off his body acted like a second force, causing a second, delayed thrust to harry's neck, causing a bit of pain.
"That's so much better. Now, try to control the mana through you body. Your still restricting it. Let it flow as you move.
Now, lets go again." Harry cracked his neck after sirius lowered his leg and lightly rubbed his sore side.
"Its been too long since I fought. Bring it on." Sirius replied enthusiastically, with a wide smile on his face, and the long thick hair scattered around, making him look like a deranged maniac.
All the while, Remus stood by the side, casually looking at the fight, thinking, 'Ah, the good old days.'.
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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