"Begin!" Moody called out.
Like Ernie, Ron made a half-hearted attempt at duelling Harry. The Slytherins started taunting Ron's poor performance. Harry got through Ron's shield with a stunner. Malfoy and his friends started laughing and hooting at the sight of the youngest Weasley male unconscious on the duelling platform.
"Potter, you have five minutes to rest up and then we finish this," Moody announced before stomping off the platform.
Padma, Daphne, and Hermione rushed to the platform. Hermione and Padma ran over to Harry and helped him sit on a stool Hermione conjured while Daphne woke her boyfriend. A call by Padma saw Dobby bring a glass of water for Harry to drink. Harry gulped the water down gratefully.
"This is crazy!" Hermione ranted. "Someone should go tell professor Dumbledore what is going on here. There is no way he would allow this!"
"Really?" Ernie asked in a sceptical tone. "He let Moody demonstrate all three of the Unforgivables our first week of class and cast the Imperius Curse on all of us. So his agreeing to Harry duelling all of fourth year is not really unbelievable."
"Harry, should we stop this?" Padma asked. Harry could see the concern in her eyes. Harry forced a game smile onto his face.
"One more house to go. I've come this far, I can finish," Harry said. "I can do it. Besides I really don't want Malfoy making noise about being afraid to face him." The normally calm Indian witch made a small growl of frustration with her stubborn Gryffindor boyfriend.
"Let's go, Potter," Moody called. "I want to be done with this so I can go grade some of these miserable essays you people give me."
Harry stood up from the conjured stool and made his way back to his place on the platform. The short break and water had Harry feeling like he was getting his second wind.
Millicent Bulstrode was the first Slytherin Harry was to face. On Moody's call to start Harry fired off a fast stunner and caught the large girl going through some elaborate wand movements. Crabbe was the next to come up but Malfoy's pet gorilla was not much of a magical challenge.
Tracey Davis was the first Slytherin to give Harry a real fight. Davis was not part of Malfoy circle but she was proud of her House and her heritage. Beating Potter would surely boost her standing in the House. Harry was caught a bit off guard when the petite, brunette witch gave him a real fight. He clipped her in the side with a bludgeoning curse that sent her to the platform floor with a shout of pain. A summoning spell on her wand ended the fight.
When Flitwick levitated her off the platform Harry caught her eye and gave her a respectful nod.
Greg Goyle lasted no longer than his buddy Vinny. But to the surprise of many, Daphne really made an effort to defeat Harry. She caught Harry with a tripping jinx that sent Harry to the ground for the first time. It was only Harry's firm grip on his wand that kept him from losing. Unfortunately for her, Daphne was so sure that her summoning spell would work that she was unprepared for the disarming spell that Harry returned to her.
Harry was feeling the exhaustion setting in again when Malfoy swaggered onto the platform.
"You may have impressed these losers," Malfoy sneered. "But I've been trained and fought a real duel against the champions. Put your wand down and walk away and I will be merciful. Who knows? Maybe I'll even return it to you."
For the first time in a long while Harry felt the Beast in him seize control. It was almost like his first days in the forest near Little Whining. The Beast had never liked Snape or Malfoy but now it was pushing through the control Harry had developed. A rush of power swept through Harry.
"Nott, Parkinson, Zabini, get down here and join this little ponce. All four of you against me. Right here, right now."
A chorus of voices protested Harry's challenge, chief among them Padma and Hermione. But when Harry turned his gaze on them all conversation stopped. Harry realized how close the Beast was to taking control. He had stopped wearing his glasses when he'd learnt to suppress the beast to some degree. But the magical exhaustion and the Slytherins' taunts had caused that control to slip.
Harry turned back to where his four Slytherin opponents were gathering to fight him.
"Um, Mr Potter," professor Flitwick squeaked. "The duelling code does not allow for multiple simultaneous opponents. I'm afraid the regulations won't allow this."
"That's okay, professor. At least three of these… people never follow the rules anyway."
Moody snickered. "That's what I want to see. Let's get this over with. Begin!"
What followed was a stunning display of power especially for a Fourth year student that had just fought over 20 duels with very little time between them. Parkinson and Zabini went on the defensive and protected Nott and Malfoy. The two Slytherin would be alphas each went on an immediate attack to outdo their rival by being the one to take down Potter.
Harry batted away Malfoy's magic with a shield while sidestepping Nott's. Then he took a page out of Malfoy's spell book from Second year.
" Serpensortia! "
Three large pythons similar to the one Harry saw at the London zoo appeared on the platform.
" Subdue them but don't injure them," Harry ordered the snakes. With hisses of agreement the snakes proceeded down the platform. The Slytherins tried to stop the snakes but Harry's spells were coming too fast to allow them to focus on the approaching snakes for long.
A stunning spell caught Parkinson square in her pug-like nose. The witch fell back into Zabini throwing off both defensive casters. The platform was really too narrow for four people to really fight at the same time. The jumble of Parkinson and Zabini cut down on that space even further. It left Nott and Malfoy totally dependent on their shields for defence. The arrival of the pythons added to their problems. Two of the snakes wrapped themselves around the prone witch and wizard. Zabini's panicked screams soon filled the air. The third snake attempted to wrap around Nott but was killed by a Cutting Curse.
But the snakes were enough of a distraction.
But the snakes were enough of a distraction.
A pair of over-powered stunning spells ploughed into the two boy-wizards. A summoning spell then left Harry in possession of all four of their wands.
The duelling club was silent for a moment before breaking into cheers for the feat they had just witnessed. Harry ignored them and turned to walk away. He'd learnt something here about himself. About the Beast. He needed to think about what it meant.
The story quickly went around Hogwarts about Harry defeating all the other fourth year students. The whispers started again and it was like his second year all over again. But Harry ignored it. It took a few days for his magical reserves to be restored to the normal level. But Harry spent a great deal of that time in his Beast form in the Forbidden Forest getting back what he'd forgotten.
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