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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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In second place we have Hikaru Jun."
Jun sent Harry a 'told-you-so' look.
"See kid you did beat me."
"They haven't said that." Harry protested.
"As good have. Your cake was better then mine."
He hurried to the front where he was handed the same things the woman before him was. He smiled politely as a news camera flashed and Harry groaned as he realized a newspaper crew was here.
"And finally," The last judge said, "In first place we have Potter Harry."
Harry strode up to the front of the room and put on a pleasant, polite smile. He accepted the envelope of cash along with a paper certificate and a small trophy that had a cake on the top. He smiled and thanked the judge before returning to his station where some news person cut him off.
"I'm Akira from Tokyo News. Can you please tell us a bit of yourself?" She smiled pleasantly.
She was nice enough so Harry nodded.
"My name is Potter Harry. I'm a British citizen. I live in London and enjoy cooking. Cakes are my specialty. I have a hope of opening a small cake café."
She scribbled the notes down and smiled at him as a man with a camera stepped forwards to flash a close up of his face. He gave a polite smile. When they were gone he quickly grabbed his cake which had been moved to a paper plate. He wrapped it with some plastic wrap handed around. He found himself walking beside Jun as he left the room.
"You in any of the other competitions today?" the man asked.
"Yes. I enter the healthy dessert category."
"No good at candy?"
"Never tried."
"Ah. Well I'm not in the healthy category. I'm in the candy one."
"Well it was nice to meet you."
"You too kid. Keep cooking."
Harry watched him walk away with a smile.
'Attention please. The next category will start in fifteen minutes. All competitors be ready by then please.'
Harry ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. He would be entering a parfait in this one.
.-.
Harry stretched and heard his back pop. He had set his cake on the small table of his hotel room. He hadn't won anything in the second category but it didn't bother him at all. He saw that it wasn't late and decided to go have a meal in a restaurant he'd passed in Tokyo Alley.
Ten minutes he was entering the colourful little restaurant and being seated by a bouncy black haired Japanese girl. Almost as soon as he was seated his was drinking some real green tea. He gave the drink an appreciative look and decided he was going to be buying a lot of Japanese tea before returning to Britain. It was much better. Soon he had a meal of curry on rice in front of him with some stir fried vegetables.
He found himself silently enjoying his meal and just relaxing, catching snitches of conversation around him. He heard about a child painting his room neon green and another conversation of a man planning his wedding. He heard people talking about the latest robes and some talking about some books. One conversation though caught his attention.
"Did you hear of the tournament tomorrow?"
"No. What's happening?"
"There's a duelling tournament tomorrow at Sakura Park. Anyone can sign up for fifteen galleons."
"Anyone?"
"Yup."
"We should enter!"
"Why do you think I told you about it? We'll have to get there at about seven to sign up. Sign up closes at nine but there will be a line."
Harry smirked over his drink.
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.
Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.
You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.
Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!
http//patreon.com/BLAKE025
(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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