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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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Harry smiled at the man behind the fold up table as he stepped up in the line.
"Sorry kid, adults only." The man said glancing at Harry.
Harry rolled is eyes and slid his ID over to the man. The man eyed it and cast a few spells aimed at it.
"Guess you're an adult then. Name?"
"Harry Potter."
"Age?"
"13."
The man scribbled the stuff down on a sheet of paper and a few more things from his ID. Then he made Harry sign a bunch of consent forms so he could not sue, he officially noted the rules, and had Harry officially acknowledged chance of injury and/or death. Then Harry paid his fifty galleon fee.
"Good. Now since we have over 400 people already signed up and still half an hour to do so we've broke the matches down. For the first part of the day you're divided up into 10 groups were semi-matches are held. If you pass all those you move on. You may use any weapon, any magic, anything, but you may not kill your opponent. If the referee says stop, you stop. His word is law. Magical Police will be patrolling the area and watching. They will strike you down and arrest you if you do not listen to the referee. You're number 429 and you're going to bloc 9."
"Thank you." Harry said taking a white pin with his number in bold black.
"And don't try to give that pin to anyone else. When you loose a match or are kicked out they immediately burn showing you are no longer participating. Should you try to give it to someone else it will also burn up."
"Yes sir."
"Good. Now get lost."
Harry hurried off and headed to his right. The duelling was held in the large park and ten raised duelling platforms were evenly spaces in one large row. The platforms were high enough that everyone would be able to see the fighters and they were square shaped and large. There was an empty area around each platform that was roped off. Beyond the rope was an area for spectators to stand. Beyond that were some steep muggle bleachers to sit on. Filling the space between every bleacher and behind the bleachers were food stands, drink venders, souvenir stands, and everything from masks to shirts.
Harry found it was half past eight. He still had half an hour before the first match. He made his way to the platform that had the large glowing nine hovering over it. When he reached it he just sat at on of the available benches and pulled a book from his satchel. He'd brought the satchel filled with food, water, and an extra pair of clothes just in case. He would be ready.
He had come wearing some black yoga pants that were stretchy, but form fitting so they didn't get in the way. He wore a plain white t-shirt. He had a worn pair of white and red trainer and had made sure his hair was braided snugly. He also had a black outer robe in his satchel should he need it for formality.
.-.
After half an hour of enjoying his book he noticed a man wearing black and white robes climb onto the platform that was now surrounded by people. The man raised his arm with his wand and a shush fell over the chattering crowd.
"Welcome to the Japan Duelling Competition of 1993. I am the referee for platform nine. I shall be overseeing the one hundred competitors at this bloc and the matches that take place on this platform. My word is law. If you disagree you may calmly speak to me. Yelling at me or trying to attack me will get you disqualified. Now, each match chosen for the first round is random, a draw of the hat. If you loose you may stay to watch but you may not draw your wand again. When I declare the match your number will appear underneath the spelled nine above us." He pointed at the glowing red nine about fifty feet above their heads. "You have two minutes to get here from the moment I call you. If you don't get past the rope you are disqualified. You may be a step away but I will still disqualify you unless you were held back for an important reason." He stressed the word important. "You may use any magic in this competition except the unforgivables, you will be arrested should you even attempt these, and spellsdesigned to one-hit kill or will kill them later will get you disqualified. Use Non-magical weapons, staffs, wands, fists, anything. Your goal is to render your opponent unconscious or make them give up. If they touch the ground they are also out. No Killing. When the match begins you will face each other and wait for my signal. We will have no bowing or greetings. These are to be quick matches to determine those who go on to be finalists."
He gazed over the crowd with a stony gaze that said he would take no crap from anyone. Then he pulled a clipboard that was tucked under his arm and wrote a note. Then he stepped off to the side and hopped from the platform. He summed a small table and set the clipboard on it before taking a box from another official. The box had a hole in the top and the referee reached inside and pulled out two slips of paper.
"Numbers 23 and 376."
The two numbers appeared beneath the nine in the sky and glowed green. Underneath the numbers a clock appeared with flashing blue numbers counting down from two minutes. One man stepped from the crowd and hopped onto the stage, wand drawn. A minute later another man joined him. They both started to stretch as the time decreased. When the timer hit zero the referee raised a whistle to his lips.
"Wands at ready."
Both men took positions wands raised.
"On my command."
A shrill whistle that was echoed around the park came and the two men lashed out. Harry found himself watching very closely, watching every flick of the wand and every spell that emerged. He listened to every word the men said and felt how the magic wove through the air. He tried to memorize every new spell he saw, many foreign, by the feel of the magic, the wave of the wand, and the spells name if he heard. The crowd was wild, cheering for every hit and yelling their side on. Harry found himself realizing this was not strictly a Japanese competition. At least half of the spectators were foreign. He felt a smirk make its way to his lips.
.-.
Harry heard his number called and hopped up, smiling. He pushed through the crowds to pull himself onto the platform. He heard some whispers directed at his age but ignored them to stretch. He'd done a quick jog earlier and now all he needed was a light stretch. Ten seconds before the timer beeped a busty blonde woman with an ice cold face swung onto the opposite end of the platform.
Harry dropped his satchel to the ground to lean against the platform and drew his wand, holding it loosely in front of him, end pointed to the floor. The referee raised his arm and with a curt movement blew his whistle. Harry was rolling as soon as the whistle went and non-verbally casting a spell at the woman. She dodged just barely, her own spell sailing above his head by over a foot. Harry dodged to the right and ran at the woman, eyes trained on her and wand out and casting two spells in quick succession. She dodged the first, but the second that had been aimed lower hit her hip throwing her back.
She slid across the floor, falling to her knees and a stunner hit her point blank. She was out like a light. Harry back peddled and lowered his wand, still ready though. The referee nodded.
"Winner 429."
He set the paper with Harry's name to the side and waved one of the stand-by healers up to levitate the woman away and wake her out of the way. Harry hopped from the platform and grabbed his satchel before making his way back through the crowd. He found quite a few people slapping him on the back and grinning at him as he returned to the bench. He plopped down and released his breath. He thanked his luck that he'd gotten an easy opponent for his first try.
At least that was what he thought. In truth she hadn't been easy. Harry didn't realize he'd cast more then three spells that would have been classified as seventh year and all none verbally. He'd also moved fast with skill and reflexes.
.-.
Harry glanced up as the referee stepped back onto the platform.
"That ends our first round of competitors. The next twenty five matches will decided who moves on even further. I shall call the first match of round two in five minutes. Be ready."
.-.
Harry waited until he heard the shrill call of the whistle before he burst into movement. He didn't roll this time but instead charged forwards, wand out. He focused on the tall man with brown hair and sharp eyes in front of him and rolled around the spells silently throwing his at the man. The man was better then Harry's last opponent though and dodged all his spells.
Harry found his attacks were not that effective and leapt back, mind working like a bullet. He was in his element on this duelling platform where everything was quick. He'd faced an angry Voldemort and a sixty foot lightening fast basilisk. He'd faced Dementors and boggarts. He was used to looking at all his battles like life or death. This forced his mind to find every possibility of action and analysis it. His intelligence just boosted his quick thinking and tactics. He couldn't play chess for the life of him but thinking of plans on the fly usually worked out well for him.
Harry lowered his wand and threw a blasting hex at the floor of the platform. The platforms were made of cement so shrapnel of rock blew out towards his opponent. Harry waved his wand and changed each chunk of rock into deadly arrows which continued to fly at the man. The man shielded, but his moment of shock had allowed an arrow to hit his leg. He grit his teeth and threw a powerful cutting curse at Harry. Harry dodged just barely, the spell slicing his cheek slightly. That would have lobed his head off. The referee scowled but said nothing. Unless it actually killed him…
Harry planted his feet and threw a weak stream of water at the man. It hit the man dead on as the man was limping now. He shook the water from his eyes and threw a blasting curse at him. Harry rolled out of the way and rolled to his knee aiming his wand at the man. A moment later the water was freezing solid and the man couldn't move at all.
"Winner number 429."
Harry grinned widely.
.-.
"That ends our second round. There are twenty five of your left. We will have thirteen matches and one of you is going to be unlucky enough to have to fight two matches to move past this round."
.-.
Harry threw a cutting hex at the man before he even bothered to move. The man dodged though, rolling to the side and throwing a sickly purple hex at him. Harry avoided it with a quick side step and then started launching spell after spell at the man. Two minutes later he was tap dancing while playing a pretend guitar and chirping. Harry grinned widely as the judge chuckled and announced him the winner as the healer came by to undo Harry's spells.
.-.
Of course.
Of course he would be the unlucky one. The one to fight twice. He sighed and swung himself onto the stage. He drew his wand and found himself facing a man who looked to be older then any of his opponents so far.
Harry watched him carefully. He waked with grace and carried a refined air about him. His hair was to his shoulders and curly, drawn into a low ponytail, and dark grey matching his dark grey goatee, but he didn't look all that old. He looked to be about fifty, but even that was pushing it. He had the sharpened lines of fifty, but was much too handsome to be called old. He had aged gracefully and looked like an aristocrat.
The man gave Harry a curt nod of his head and tucked one arm behind him as he raised his wand straight out in front of him. Harry spread his feet evenly and licked his lips nervously. This man was more dangerous then the other ones. And Harry caught a glint from a sword at his waist.
A shrill whistle started their battle. With lightening precision the man cast three spells at him. Harry threw up a shield seeing as he couldn't dodge them and ducked as one made it through. He threw a cutting spell that collided with another spell the man had cast causing both to vanish in a burst of sparks.
The man eyed him and then flicked his wand out sending out a large stream of fire. Harry bared his teeth in a smile. Elemental spells came easy to him, they were his specialty and this man had just stepped onto Harry's home ground. He threw out his wand and a huge fireball erupted from the tip and roared across the field. It sucked up the man's own stream of fire and continued on. Harry saw the man's eyes widen and he dropped, rolling out of the way barely in time. The fire ball dissipated three feet from the platform because of the warding shields around the spectators.
Harry and the man had a brief breather as they stared at one another. Then the man lashed out and a whip of blue light formed at the end of his wand. He snapped it out to Harry who slashed with his wand casting a severing charm. It had no effect of the blue whip which hit his squarely across the chest. Harry flew back and managed to land a foot from the edge. Harry felt a growl rise in his throat as he snarled at the man. Harry threw his wand out.
"Serpensortia!" He hissed.
A large black snake shot from the end of his wand, over five feet long and hissing.
:Attack that man.: Harry hissed at it.
It lunged at his opponent who was staring in stunned surprise. Harry heard a cheer from the crowd as the man was forced to leap away from an attack and focus on the snake that was much faster than any normal snake. Harry struck as the man faltered only once. He was soon hitting the hard ground with a dull 'oomph'. As Harry was announced the winner he banished the snake and hoped down to hold a hand out to the man. The man eyed him from his position on his back before reaching for his hand with a smirk.
"That was some good spell work kid."
"I'm not sure I would have won if not for my parseltongue surprising you." Harry admitted. "You were a bit faster then me and you appear skilled with the weapons at your side."
The man chuckled and stood, walking with Harry to an empty seat on a bleacher.
"We were quite evenly matched." He said in his deep baritone voice. "But I don't have as much magic as you."
Harry blinked.
"How can you tell that?" He asked curiously.
The man smiled and shrugged. Then he started to eye Harry. When he said nothing Harry turned to watch the next matches of the third round.
.-.
"As there was a double-knock out last round the matches have been evened out to twelve competitors left"
.-.
Harry stared down his opponent, a short Japanese man who seemed to be twitching ever few seconds. A whistle set the man off and before Harry could blink spells were barring down on him. Harry raised his wand and cast a shield as quick as he could before throwing his own spells back. Spells clashed against his shield and the few that made it through clashed with his own spells. Harry flew back from the force of the colliding spells and slid across the platform on his shoes, leaning forwards to brace his weight. As he got up he summoned up as many snakes as he could with in ten seconds. There were actually quite a few.
Soon his snakes were swarming the man.
.-.
"Should I call you snake charmer." The older man from his last match smirked as Harry joined him on the bleachers again.
"Just call me Harry." Harry smiled.
"And you may call me Harold."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Hmm." Harry hummed.
Harold was eyeing him again.
"Who is your duelling instructor?" He finally asked.
Harry blinked.
"What?"
"Your duelling trainer."
"I don't have one." Harry blinked again. "I just practice on my own when I have the chance."
To Harry's surprise Harold burst out laughing.
"To think. I was beaten by an untrained fresh out of school teenage."
"What makes you think I'm out of school?" Harry asked with a raised brow.
Harold started to laugh even harder.
"An untrained schoolboy." He laughed uproariously.
Harry couldn't help but smile himself. When the man finally finished laughing he crossed his legs and leaned back, arms resting on the back of his seat. He smirked widely and looked back to Harry.
"So what school do you attend?"
"Hogwarts." Harry said easily.
"Hogwarts! Bah!" He scoffed. "I'll admit it has some of the best teachers but they are all held back by their ministry and can't teach to their full potential. It also has nothing but the basics."
Harry perked up. He'd never heard this before.
"Can you explain more?"
"Of course. Hogwarts, though filled with very competent teachers, all masters in their subject, is not a good school. The potions professor, though one of the world's top potion masters, does not nor want to teach. Flitwick is one of the top expert duellers of the world and he's stuck teach tickling charms and levitating charms. McGonagall renowned transfiguration mistress is teaching children how to turn buttons into beetles. Sprout, a herbolgist known even to the thick forest of Brazil, is potting new born mandrakes. Vector, a woman who has come up with five new arithmetic equations to help make hundreds of new spells is teaching classes of barely twenty. So on and so on. Besides that Hogwarts has not held a DADA professor for more then a year in twenty six years. The only extra classes are arithmacy, Ancient Runes, CoMC, History of Magic, astronomy, and Divination. The only useful ones are CoMC, Astronomy, and Arithmacy and even those are limited because of the British ministry. Runes would be added to that list but Hogwarts only teaches you how to recognize and draw runes. They give no lessons on how to wield the power for runes. In history of magic you have a ghost teaching you only about goblin wars. And in Arithmacy you only learn the equations, not how to use them to make spells. They have no classes such as offensive magic, History of Light and Dark magic, swordsmanship, wizarding etiquette, finances, Latin, other languages, wand making, portrait making, animagus, Wandless magic, spell making, the magic of music, occlumency, Legilimency, or anything else. You are seriously hindered if you go to that school. You can only get hired in Britain as other countries take education much more seriously and have much higher standards."
Harry blinked in numb shock as he ran these thoughts through his mind.
"Are you a professor?" He finally asked.
"What gave you that idea?" Harold blinked.
"You just sound like one."
"Well I'm not. I'm a Necromancer."
Harry stared in shock.
"Those are real?" He gasped. "You can actually raise armies of dead skeletons and zombies."
Harold burst into a fit of laughter that made Harry huff. When the man finally calmed he chuckled and patted Harry's knee.
"Necromancers are not what muggles make them out to be. Necromancers, in fact, can only raise the dead as inferi and we never even contemplate doing that. We can temporarily bring the spirits of the dead back to this plane, and we can exercise the spirits, ghosts, already here."
Harry's breath caught in his throat.
"You can communicate with the dead?" He asked, his voice shaking.
"Yes. We usually do it for a living. People who wish to speak to a deceased relative or friend usually come to us. It's costly but most don't care."
"No, I don't think they would." Harry rasped, his chest constricting.
He swayed as realized what this meant. Harold's hand gripped his shoulder to steady him.
"Easy there child." He said soothingly.
Harry's hand snaked out to grab the man's shirt as he gazed at him. Harold drew back in surprise at the hardened eyes that did not belong on a child that age.
"You can summon any spirit?"
"Yes. We only need our specialized spells and magic, and a focus, usually something that belonged to the person, to bring them to this plane. I can keep a spirit here for about two hours."
Harry let him go and closed his eyes.
"I want to hire you." He rasped.
Harold hadn't been expecting that.
"…What?"
"I don't care what it costs. I want to hire you."
"…Sure."
Harry spun at that one word. He felt something flare in his chest as he tried to breathe evenly. He was going talk to them. He released his breath in one big 'whoosh' and started to laugh, a tad hysterically. It took him a good five minutes to calm himself. Harold was watching him oddly but said nothing. Harry decided to start the conversation again.
"Can necromancers do anything else?"
"Of course. We can also summon demons."
Harry blinked in shock and Harold gave smirk.
"I suppose you do not know of demons then. Demons are in fact real beings that are divided into two groups; Demon Beasts and Demon Creatures. Demon Beasts are loosely based on the animals of earth. Hellhounds, Cerberus, imps, gargoyles, Nightmares, and so on. They are aware and have basic instincts but very little intelligence. Demon Creatures are more intelligent with varying degrees. Some are barely smart enough to count as above beasts, but some are even more intelligent then us humans. The Creatures have their own hierarchy with the strongest ruling as King over the demon plane."
"Demon plane?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Of course. Demons live in a plane that rests beside our own. They can only spend a limited time in our plane of existence. Planes or realms of reality exist outside of our own. The demon plane and the Fae realm are the most well known and the only ones we actually know anything about. The Fae realm holds elves, faeries or fae, pixies, Pegasus, and other such creatures. They are where the concept of Heaven and hell came from as they are polar opposites. A famous Necromancer thousands of years ago pained a picture of both realms together fighting, one above and one below. He added wings to the Fae and horns to the demons after being blessed to see the Fae and Demon realms. It got out to the muggles and bam! Heaven and Hell drawn for the first time. Of course, now we only know how to summon demons. Before, Necromancers were once able to summon beings from the Fae realms. Those powers were lost to us centuries upon centuries ago."
He sighed almost regretfully and Harry digested this information.
.-.
"Because of a few injuries and exhaustion in the last round the competitors have been narrowed down. There are four more matches ladies and gentlemen."
.-.
Harry eyed the woman in front of him with a slight frown. She had fired spells at him as soon as the duel started but they were much slower then his last opponent's and weaker. How had she made it this far? His well aimed blasting spell threw her from the platform and won him the round. He hopped down and strode back to the bleacher Harold sat in. He frowned, sitting down beside the man.
"Is it just me or did she seem weaker then my last matches?" He asked Harold.
The man eyed him with surprise.
"I don't think you've realized it, but the higher you get the more worn out you get. After more then three matches an average person would start to tire and his spells would become weaker and slower. You don't seem to be exhausting yourself at all. In fact you can still fire spell after spell without even panting. You've got some of the best magical stamina I've ever seen."
"Oh." Harry said dumbly, watching the matches.
.-.
"We're down to our final four people." The judge smiled at the crowd. "We are a bit short on time though and so we will be having only one final battle, a melee; One for one in a four way fight."
A cheer rose and Harry frowned as he made his way to the platform. He hopped up onto it and took his place in one of the four corners. The other three opponents were a small busty brunette, a tall blonde man, and a tank of a red head man. Harry slid his wand into his hand and waited for the signal, eyeing the other three. The brunette woman was practically vibrating from excitement while the Blonde man was just grinning as he eyed them. The red head man (whom was built like a tank) was just watching them all silently.
As soon as the whistle went everyone burst into movement. Before Harry had even realized it the blonde and the brunette had leapt back to back and started firing spells at Harry and the red head. Harry ducked and rolled cursing as he realized the two knew each other and had teamed up. Harry realized though, that he was faster and more agile then the two. He darted forwards hoping to get closer. As he did so he found the brunette frowning and aiming just for him while the blonde focused on the red head.
Harry rolled out of the way of a spell and threw his own. His reducto sent the woman ducking while pulling her partner down.
"Throw up a shield dammit." The blonde yelled at her.
She nodded and started to do so. Harry wasn't sure what shield it was so he did the next best thing. He leapt at her and slammed into her side. He wasn't that big himself but the busty woman wasn't much larger then him so when he hit her they both went down. They rolled, grappling on the ground. Harry didn't know any professional moves but he'd fought off his cousin enough to know how to get out of a grappling fight. He rolled from the woman and raised his wand before she even realized he wasn't fighting her close up. He blasted her across the field where she rolled off the stage.
Harry ducked just in time to have the red head blast over him and drop to the ground next to the brunette. Harry looked up and rolled to his feet in time to avoid another blasting hex. Before he could do anything though the blonde grabbed his wrist in which he held his wand and twisted it till Harry yelped and dropped his wand. He grabbed at the man's hand hoping to loosen his painful grip as he glared into blue eyes. The blonde eyes him and gave a wide grin. Harry felt a shudder roll down his spine and glared hard at the man.
"You look delicious." The blonde purred. "How about going on a date with me later?"
Harry glared even harder.
"Don't be like that." The blonde smirked. "I could show you a really good time."
Harry lashed out with his left leg, lifting it straight up. The man released his hand and dropped to the ground, knees together and hands going to his groin. Harry glared at the pained blonde and he was blasted off with a wandless blasting hex.
"And we have our winner folks; Number 429. We will now have a half an hour break to set up the final battling platform and the ordering of the matches for the last ten competitors."
Harry slid from the platform and made his way through the crowd to his place on the bleacher next to Harold. The man eyed him before giving him an odd smile and a curt nod.
.-.
Harry followed the referee that had come to get him into the tent near the center of the row of platforms. He stepped in to find nine other people sitting or standing about the tent. The referee cleared his throat and all ten looked over at them.
"As you are all here, the other referees and I will now organize the matches while the main platform and bleachers are set up. We ask you stay in this tent until everything is ready."
Then he left. Harry hesitantly took a seat in a chair off to the side and gazed at the people through his bangs.
"So!" A short blonde woman with cheerful green eyes said suddenly gaining everyone's attention. "My name is Rena Petrov! I'm a Russian magical law enforcer. I enjoy joining duelling tournaments on my vacations and I've won five so far. I'm twenty eight and have a boyfriend at the moment!"
She looked to the man beside her expectantly. He blinked back at her.
"Well." She said. "Your turn."
The man sighed and mussed his deep red hair. He was tall and built.
"I'm Darri Agnor. I'm a magical architect. I enter tournaments when I have free time. This is my fourth tournament. I've won only one but came in second in two others. I'm forty one and dating."
The next man in the 'circle' was a tall south African with beautiful darkened skin and deep honey brown eyes. His hair was black and curly, falling to the middle of his back and held from his face by a red colored headband.
"I'm Elewa Yeboah. I'm a potion ingredients gather in Africa. This is my fifth tournament. I have won one and came in second in two others. I am twenty eight and also single."
His voice was deep and baritone; pleasant to the ears. The next six people in the circle were all Japanese.
"I'm Karin Takashi." The female with short brown hair and an apathetic face said. "I'm twenty and dating. This is my fourth tournament. I've won one and came in second in one. I'm a martial arts sensei."
"I'm Koji Hitachi. I'm thirty two and single. Seventh tournament. Won five, came in second in the others. I'm an English professor." A tall man with scruffy black hair, some black stubble, and a lazy smile said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
"Toru Kyo." A tall average look man said curtly. "Forty one. Divorced. Charms master. Third tournament. Won one."
"Akari Kaoru." A tall female with light brown hair and a soft face said. "I'm thirty six and married. This is my third tournament. I've only placed third in one. I work in a robe shop."
"Shin Jutika. I'm forty two, single, and I work in a book store. Four tournaments, second in all four." Said a man with short spiky brown hair and black eyes.
"I'm Yuuki Sasoke! I'm twenty five and single! This is my third tournament! I came in second in all of them! I like horses and train them!" A small light brown haired one said practically bouncing up and down.
Harry nervously twisted the hem of his cloak as all eyes landed on him.
"I'm Harry. Just Harry. This is my first tournament. I'm thirteen, fourteen in a week. I'm in the midst of opening my own café."
More then one jaw dropped looking at him.
"You're only fourteen?" Rena blurted out. "This is your first tournament?"
Harry shrunk under their gazes mentally, but straightened his back on the outside and nodded softly.
"Ooh!" She grinned falling upon him before he could react.
She hugged him close, pressing his face into her breasts as she practically squeezed the life out of him.
"You're just the cutest newbie I've ever seen!" She cooed.
He knew pink was dusted across his face now.
"You're hair is so cute too! I've always told other men they should grow their hair out. It looks so handsome! And you eyes are just too beautiful for words! Such a lovely green that gives me the shudders. You glasses just accent them and give you a cunning brainy look!"
Harry blushed as he listened to his rambling. Some of the others covered smirks and grins. Harry was finally released as a referee returned to the tent. He was carrying a large white piece of paper. He set it up on an unused chair and they all saw a match pyramid. Harry searched for his name quickly. He was in the first match battling Yuuki Sasoke. The petite man gave him a wide grin.
"The matches will be held on a raised stone platform which we have set up. A small fence will hold the viewers three meters back. A barrier will be set up so if any spells fly past you they will not hit the crowd. A commenter will be in the open area between the platform and the crowd. He has spells to protect him from glancing spells but should you directly try to harm him you will be immediately disqualified. Killing disqualifies you. Torture beyond getting your opponent will get you disqualified. If the commenter/referee says you have lost you have lost. No ifs, ands, or buts. You will be forcibly removed should you argue. Winners will return to this tent when they finish. Losers will join the crowd. First match is in five minutes."
.-.
Harry took a deep breath as he flexed his grip on his wand. Yuuki grinned at him, flipping his own wand hand to hand. The new referee was a man in a black suit with slicked back blonde hair and shades.
"Welcome ladies and gentle men to the finals of the Japan Duelling Competition 1993. We have ten finalists with us today, the best of the best. Our first match will be number 429 vs. number 53. We apologize for not using names but they are withheld for various reasons. Could our first competitors please raise your wands!"
Harry raised his wand parallel to his body. Yuuki copied the movement.
"And begin."
A bell rang out and Harry was already rolling away from a whip. He found Yuuki coming at him with a long whip made of bright orange flames. Harry countered with his own made of water. Steam rose around them as the two collided.
"Wow! They're already at it! We've now seen two expertly cast elemental whips, both strong enough to cancel the other out and create this smokescreen of steam!" Came the voice of the referee.
Harry cast up his strongest shield and rolled to the side, aiming at the place Yuuki had been last. Harry was surprised to find a large golden horse coming at him. He rolled to the side and cursed the steam away. He found Yuuki gone. He looked at the horse who reared, trying to hit him with dangerous hooves. Animagus.
"It appears number 53 is a stallion animagus! How shall his opponent counter this?"
Harry yelped as he barely dodged a kick.
"Two can play at that." Harry scowled as he muttered.
As the hooves came for him again he changed into his raven form and whipped around the horse and into the air. He heard the crowd go wild as Yuuki snorted his annoyance and pranced in place.
"And Number 429 is also an animagus! A raven Animagus!"
Yuuki changed back to human and started firing spells at Harry. Harry weaved around them, as agile with wings as on a broom. He saw a chance and dived at the man, changing in mid air to smash right into the man. As quick as he could Harry smacked his wand away before rolling away and firing a stunner. Yuuki went down.
"And the winner is number 429!"
The crowd cheered as healers carted Yuuki off, gathering his wand up. Harry returned to the tent off to the side to find Rena ruffling his hair as he entered.
"Good match cutie. It lasted much longer then I thought it would, I admit. Nice animagus form too."
"Thank you." Harry said as calmly as he could, sitting down.
He noticed the next two were already out. He leaned back into his chair to relax till his next round.
.-.
Harry stepped into the ring, flipping his wand hand to hand as he looked at the red haired Darri. The man offered him a slight smile and Harry tilted his head slightly. Harry listened to the welcoming of the crowd and referee, doing his best to filter both out. He kept his eyes trained on the red head man. As soon as the word 'begin' left the referee's lips Darri was on him. Harry rolled out of the way of a fierce kick and scowled knowing now that Darri was a wandless fighter. Harry rolled out of an attack and back tracked.
As another punch flew at him he change to a raven and flew into the sky. Darri frowned and now pulled his wand out. Spells came at him but he dodged idly trying to think of a plane.
Finally he grew tired of dodging and dived at the man. Darri saw the familiarity in the attack and braced himself. But instead of transforming to land on him, Harry flew straight down past him and through his legs to changer back and whip his wand out, firing a spell at the man's back. Darri was blasted back and slid off the platform. The crowd went wild again and Harry walked back with the now limping red head to the tent.
"Good match." Darri said gruffly, a slight smile tugging at his lips.
"Thank you." Harry smiled.
He sat down and watched as Rena and Elewa went to face one another. Koji sat lazily in a chair; He would face the winner of Rena vs. Elewa as he'd gotten to pass the second round. The winner of Koji vs. one of the two, would face Harry for title of champion.
.-.
Harry eyed the scruffy black hair man cautiously as he idly strode to the opposite end of the arena. There was something about the man that made his Grim instincts growl. He'd beaten Elewa within thirty seconds.
Harry watched him silently even after the referee had said begin. The man studied him also and for a moment there was silence as they both waited for the other to strike. Slowly Koji's lips spread in a grin that showed far too many teeth. He looked vicious. Harry narrowed his eyes, lips pressed together in a thin line.
He knew he couldn't win this match. He accepted that. But it sure as hell didn't mean he'd give up. He'd do his best to bring his opponent down with him.
They both drew their wands at the same instant and started to circle one another. Harry threw the first spell, a simple stunner. He was testing the waters. Koji retaliated with the same spell and Harry dodged. Slowly they started to cast spells faster until they were each dodging at full speed and barraging the other with spells. After five minutes they each had smashed the other's wand out of their hand.
Then Koji did something Harry didn't expect. He ran at Harry, body morphing into a tall dusty grey/black wolf. Harry went down under the weight of the creature, automatically changing into his grim form. Jaws snapped at him and he dodged, squirming from under the larger wolf and leaping back. He pinned his ears back, growling.
"…429 has dual animagus forms! Such an amazing thing I have not seen in many years! He appears to be some kind of canine that I can't quite recall."
Harry tuned the cheerful referee's voice out and pulled his lips back, snarling at the wolf. They started to circle again, snapping at one another when they got the chance. Harry was trying his hardest not to bite the man. He knew his grim form had venom in his teeth that could kill the other man. He didn't want to kill him. This was just a duel, not a war. That slight hesitation over biting him through was downgrading his strength. He had to focus on repressing the instinct to snap the man's flesh in his jaw which was taking away from his concentration (And fighting his instincts) and in this form they were his greatest weapon.
Finally Koji leapt at him. They both rolled, fighting for dominance. Jaws clamped around his arm and he yelped. He tried to fight back without biting but the wolf rolled out of the way. Harry stood, left leg/arm curled up to his body, bleeding. He was bleeding. Him. Bleeding. He felt an irrational fury fill him. He tasted venom in his mouth and as he snarled it spread purple across his teeth. The wolf stilled seeing the purple venom and for a moment Harry saw fear flash through his eyes.
Then the wolf was human again and cautiously watching Harry, eyes on his teeth. Harry saw how vulnerable he looked with no teeth or claws or wand. All it would take was one leap. One leapt and he could be on the man, fangs wrapping around the jugular, fresh blood filling his mouth. The taste would be sweet and filling. His opponent would fall under his fangs and claws and Harry could rip his throat out in one jerk. One leap was all it would take and he would have the sweet taste of blood in his mouth and corpse under him. He would have dominance and control!
Harry jerked back in shock and transformed. His left arm had blood running down it. Harry still tasted the leftover venom on his teeth but knew it wouldn't harm him.
"I give up." Harry rasped looking anywhere but Koji as he licked his teeth clean.
"And Number 429 has surrendered! The winner of The Japanese Duelling Competition 1993 is number 219!"
The crowd went wild and Harry fled the arena. The lingering taste of fury and venom made a sour taste in his mouth. The fear of his own thoughts was a niggling thought. He ducked into the tent and grabbed his satchel. He exited to run almost straight into a grinning Rena.
"Hey Harry!" She grinned. "We, the other finalists, are meeting later tonight for dinner! Want to come?"
Harry didn't even have time to nod before she was ruffling his hair.
"Great! Meet us at Chaka Restaurant at the end of Horo Alley at eight! Bye!"
When she was gone Harry found a tree to sit under and curled up, pulling his knees to his chest. He rested his forehead on his knees and hugged his left arm close to himself, fingers gripping the wound tightly as blood poured. The painful feeling of his nails against his wound kept him grounded. No need to get it bandaged now. He'd do it later when he had his own thoughts and feelings and instincts under control. He was afraid and he both understood and didn't. He didn't want to face anyone at the moment.
He sat there for only a few minutes when soft, larger fingers gripped his own and pried them from his wound, gently pulling his wounded arm from his body. He flinched away, back into the tree at the first hints of touch, cursing himself for letting his guard down. Harry looked up into Harold's dark black eyes that looked so soft and relaxed just the slightest. Harry looked away and allowed the man to wrap a long white bandage around his wound and wipe away the blood dripping down his arm.
When the man was finished Harry felt fingers turn his chin so their eyes met. Harold softly held his face in both hands and Harry leaned into such a kind touch.
"You gave up." Harold said softly in English.
Harry swallowed thickly.
"I could see…I could see myself ripping his throat out. I wanted to rip his throat out. I already wanted to leap at him and taste his blood." Harry rasped.
"And it made you feel bad?"
"No." Harry said softly. "But…it scared me."
His voice was no higher then a whisper.
"If that had been a real battle, a real fight where survival was everything, I … I would have killed him without hesitation." Harry admitted, eyes flashing
Harold sighed and sat next to him. Harry leaned into the man, curling up to his side. The man idly stroked his hair.
"Harry, do you have parents?"
"No."
"Guardians?"
"No."
"Are you alone?"
"…Yes."
"So no one has ever taught you wrong and right, taught you love and hate, taught you good and bad?"
"…No. But I worked it out on my own." Harry admitted. "There is no wrong and right, only choices. Love and hate share a fine line. There is no good and bad, only opinions and views. Good does not equal right or light or love. Bad does not equal wrong or dark or hate. The world is grey and reality is cruel."
Harold was silent a moment.
"The world has been cruel to you." He finally said. "And when faced with something new, you adapt, you fight, your survive, all on your own. Don't you?"
"Yes." Harry said wearily.
"And that's what you did just now. You for once, accepted you would loose. You also learned to quit before you did something you would regret. It takes a lot of control to give up."
"Not bravery?"
"No. Bravery is for the foolish."
Harry leaned into the man and just sat with him in silence.
It was a good ten minutes later one of the duelling officials found them and with a few words of congratulations handed him a trophy. The trophy was all silver with a small blocked, the words second place and the title of the competition engraved on small silver plaque. On the top were two average-looking silver wizards duelling, each moving around and small flashes of light showing the trophy was indeed magical. Harry also got an envelope of prize money.
Harry took both with a short thank you. When the man was gone Harry and Harold shared a moment of silence. Then Harold finally reached into his long overcoat and pulled out a black cane, pulling a black top hat on. He gave off the perfect image of an aristocratic gentleman.
"I must be going." He spoke. "I have an appointment. Contact me sometime. We can have tea and talk about necromancy. My full name is Harold Van Den."
"Thank you." Harry said softly.
The man tipped his hat to him and strode off silently.
.-.
Harry headed to the excitedly waving Rena and weaved through the empty tables of the restaurant. The ten finalists all sat around the large table made of smaller tables shoved together. There were no other customers and only one cook it appeared. Harry took the only seat available with a hesitation. It was right between Elewa and Koji. He steadfast ignored the Japanese man as Rena caught his attention.
"I bribed the cook to stay open later and accommodate us. Usually they close at eight." She giggled sipping what looked like wine.
The whole table was laden with food, mostly Japanese, but a few odder dishes at random points. Bottles of sake and wine also sat around the table along with a few bottles of beer, butterbeer, firewhiskey, and some more exotic looking magical alcoholic drinks. Elewa saw his glance and grinned at him shoving a bottle of red wine towards him. Harry chuckled and piled some food on his plate.
And he had a great time. Everyone was laughing and talking, even the stern looking Karin and everything was fine. No one was bitter about a loss of angry at anyone. They were just ten people who knew nothing of the others, who had no expectations on who they should be or what they should be. They were ten strangers enjoying some food, some drink, some funny tales, and some laughter. And for once Harry felt normal. He felt free. He felt happy.
After a while he'd even loosened up to Koji. Not that he had been afraid of the man, but the man still sent his grim grumbling and the instincts rising and it made Harry nervous. Of course the firewhiskey had helped. After an hour Harry, Rena, Shin, Toru, and Darri were drunk, almost 'out of their minds' drunk. The others weren't quite as drunk, but most were intoxicated at least slightly.
Harry giggled as he leaned back in his chair. Rena was dancing on one of the empty tables, swaying drunkenly to a beat that played on a record that the amused looking cook had set up. Harry knew he was intoxicated but he couldn't bring himself to care. Everything was just so…nice, so happy.
He giggled and lifted a cup of butterbeer to his lips, drinking deeply. The taste wasn't the greatest but he was thirsty. He was only faintly aware of a man sitting next to him, though he noticed completely when he set his cup down and the man refilled it for him. He looked up to find himself staring into the dark eyes of Koji. Finally Koji smiled, eyes crinkling shut.
"You fought nicely today."
"Thanks." Harry slurred.
"Two animagus forms is quite rare."
Harry shrugged and sipped his newly filled cup of butterbeer.
"Your second surprised me." The man continued. "I don't quite understand what it was."
"A Grim." Harry smiled, happily thinking of his form, the alcohol loosening his tongue.
"A Grim." The man said softly. "Not much is known about them. They say even seeing one means death."
"Not true." Harry giggled. "Grims are very ter…taritor…"
'Territorial?"
"Yeah. That. They're very whatever. Usually is you see one you're in…inv…entering it's place. They attack if you do."
"What about the death thing? Some people would be able to escape the Grim."
"Yeah, but if you're bit it's all over. They have a poison." Harry said slowly, doing his best to enunciate every word. "Sometimes, depending on its strength, it can take days to kill you. It's not something healers recognize either."
"Interesting."
Harry giggled into his cup for no reason and sipped the warm drink.
"How old are you truly?" The man asked.
"I turn fourteen in a few days." He grinned widely. "Fourteen and free."
Harry swayed slightly to the soft music playing and then grinned as he staggered to his feet. He dropped his cup onto the table and stumbled past Koji. He pulled himself up next to Rena who grinned at her new companion as she twirled. Instead of dancing though Harry opened his mouth and started to sing, enjoying the freedom of the night.
.-.
July 24th
Sunday
.-.
Harry woke with a groan as he felt the pounding in his skull. He had enjoyed the night of drinking, but not the morning after. He moaned softly at the pounding in his head when suddenly something was pressed to his lips. Liquid slid into his mouth and he had to drink or choke. He coughed and spluttered at the vile liquid and sat up. As soon as the potion was in him though, his headache vanished. His eyes snapped open and he jerked his wand from the holster on his left calf.
"Calm." Came a soothing voice. "It was just a hangover potion."
Harry whipped around to find Koji sitting cross legged next to him, back against a wall, a cigarette between two fingers. Harry himself was sitting on a futon, just under the cover. His eyes narrowed and he kept his wand pointed at the man. Koji looked at him with an amused looking expression.
"Now, now. Is that any way to treat your host?"
Harry twitched.
"Where am I?"
"My place." The man said exhaling a cloud of smoke. "You were wasted last night and no one knew where you were staying. I volunteered to take you."
Harry calmly checked that his portkey necklace was still on him before slowly standing. He'd sent his luggage home the day before intent on heading back after dinner the night before. He hadn't thought he would get completely drunk and fall asleep. He looked down at his rumpled clothes and wrinkled his nose at the smell. He turned his wand to himself and cast an array of cleaning charms. Within a minute he looked and smelled fresh.
He stood, ready to leave when Koji grabbed his arm and pulled him. Harry was thrown off balance as he fell towards the man, landing right in his lap.
Harry hid his flush as best as he could as the man put his cigarette out and dropped it to the ground. The man raised both hands to grab each side of Harry's face. Harry almost automatically rested his own hands on top of the man's. Harry felt the large hands stroke his pale cheeks a moment before they moved to brush his bangs farther to the side. Harry stiffened as the man ran a thumb over his scar. He hadn't though anyone outside of Europe would recognize it. While Voldemort was a large threat in Europe, he wasn't as well known in other places.
"Such a small mark." Koji said gruffly. "To survive the killing curse with such a small mark seems implausible."
And Harry realized that Koji didn't see his mark as a sign of defeating Voldemort, instead he saw a mark that said Harry had survived a curse that had killed all others hit with it. Harry shuddered as a nail gently traced the scar. He stiffened as a hand slid up his shirt and across his back. The slight indents of the scars on his back being thoroughly examined with quick fingers.
"Britain," Koji said casually, "Does not deserve you."
And all Harry could do was blink. The man had stated that sentence as if it were a fact, simple and true.
"It does not deserve to have such a powerful, intelligent, beautiful young man to save it, when all it does is abuse him."
Harry jerked slightly at the word abuse but said nothing, captured by dark swirling eyes.
"If you had been in Japan and defeated our dark lord and survived a deadly curse you would be treated like royalty. You would be protected, trained, allowed to grow and learn. You would have had friends and riches and a wonderful life." Koji whispered. "We take care of what we cherish and you would have been cherished."
And Harry felt a trill run up his spin. The man made it so tempting to stay. He made it sound as if Harry would have been loved. As if Harry would have been loved for his power and skill and for being Harry, not for his fame or his money. He would have been cherished not mindlessly worshiped by sheep. And Harry wanted to cry. Here was a man who'd barely known him for twelve hours and he'd already spotted what Harry had always secretly wanted someone to discover. He'd seen through Harry's act and barriers. He'd spoke all the words Harry wanted to hear.
Harry took a shaky breath and leaned into the fingers that had returned to softly stroke his cheek. Koji's one hand still rested on his lower back though, holding him close.
"You deserve to be cherish." The man said softly, breath ghosting across Harry's face.
Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I want to be cherished." He admitted, voice lower then even a whisper.
For a moment there was silence. Then Harry heard a door open.
"Ko-"
The call ended abruptly and Harry opened his eyes to look to the door. The teen in the doorway looked about nineteen with shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes. His face was a soft tan that had paled at the moment. He was staring at Harry and Koji in horror. Harry realized they looked like they had just kissed, or were going to, and looked as if Harry was straddling the older man. The boy spun and vanished back out the door.
"Shit." Koji hissed jumping up, careful not to dump Harry but set him on his feet even in his haste.
He ran out the door after the boy leaving Harry alone. Harry moved to the window and peered out. Koji had overtaken the boy and wrestled him to a stop. He could see them shouting at one another. He watched in surprise as Koji drew the boy into a vicious kiss. The boy fought a moment before relaxing into the kiss. When the kiss broke Koji pulled the boy close, leaning his forehead against the other's and lips moving silently. Harry felt envy bubble in him. They looked so happy. He wished he could have someone kiss him and chase him when he ran, for no other reason then they cared.
No one did though. And Harry knew no one might ever.
After a few minutes they started back towards the house. Harry straightened his clothes and got ready to leave. He reached the door the same time as the other two. The boy blushed and looked off. Koji met Harry's eyes. Finally the man gave an odd smirk.
"Come visit some time."
Harry paused.
"I…I would like that." He said softly.
Then he swept past the two men to find an alley to
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