The roar of the crowd was still fading when the announcer's voice rose again—this time with a strange hesitance.
"Third-place match… Fleur Delacour of France versus—"
A French girl stepped onto the platform.
She looked at Fleur.
Fleur looked at her.
She radiated pure murder through polite French etiquette, as she glared across at her opponent.
The girl swallowed.
"I… forfeit."
The referee blinked.
The crowd blinked.
Fleur didn't blink at all.
She merely inclined her head in regal acceptance, as though she had expected nothing less.
They were classmates afterall, and well even if she wanted achieve third place, if it meant attacking literall school royalty... well lets just say she chose 4th place rather than social death.
The girl fled the platform at a speed that suggested she did not want to be anywhere near her ever again when it came to dueling.
Sirius leaned toward Cassius. "Son, that is the true power of French women. Fear their hidden might."
Cassius resisted the urge to elbow him.
Flitwick sighed with a kind of exhausted fondness. "Her performance today truly was exemplary. A shame we won't see her performing further in the finals."
"She'll be stronger next year," Cassius murmured.
"Terrifying next year," Sirius corrected.
Cassius didn't disagree.
But at the same time withheld a secret one that once found out would truly set the French Princesses hair aflame later on.
But the time for Fleur Delacour was over for now.
Now, the lights shifted.
The ground vibrated.
The crowd surged forward with renewed energy.
This was it.
The championship.
Nicolae Zamfir stepped into the arena like a walking inferno.
He wasn't tall.
He wasn't elegant.
He wasn't charming.
But his presence was unmistakable.
A raw, unstable, electrified pressure that made the hairs on the back of Cassius's neck rise.
Nicolae wore scorched dueling robes.
The hem was singed.
His sleeves carried spider-web lines of residual blast burns.
Every step across the platform left faint sparks of magic.
He cracked his neck once, eyes bright with manic energy.
Then he grinned—wide and sharp.
"So. You're the British kid."
Cassius inclined his head. "Cassius Snape."
"Nicolae Zamfir." A beat. "I blow things up."
Cassius stared at him. "…Yes. I noticed."
Nicolae laughed, delighted.
"Oh, this will be fun."
Cassius rolled his shoulders, exhaled once, and made a decision.
He would not hold back.
Not in the final.
Not against the strongest raw-output duelist in the under-sixteen division.
Not today.
Sirius leaned in close—voice low, serious for once.
"Pup… if you're going to do the thing—go all the way. Don't half-measure it. If you start, you finish."
Cassius nodded.
He understood.
Flitwick looked up at him, eyes shining with pride and worry in equal measure.
"Just remember—control is everything."
Cassius flexed his fingers around his wand.
"I know."
The announcer's voice boomed across the stadium:
"THE GRAND FINALS—BEGINNING NOW!NICOLAE ZAMFIR OF ROMANIA…VERSUS…CASSIUS SNAPE OF GREAT BRITAIN!"
The arena erupted.
Cassius walked forward.
Nicolae walked forward.
The referee raised her wand. "Bow."
They bowed.
"—BEGIN!"
~
Round One
Nicolae did not wait even a fraction of a second.
He punched his wand toward the ground—
"ERUPTIO!"
The entire stage EXPLODED.
A volcanic blast of raw force tore upward in a pillar of fire and shrapnel.
The crowd screamed.
Dust and flame devoured the left half of the arena.
Sirius shouted something obscene.
Flitwick squeaked in alarm.
And Nicolae grinned savagely—
Until he felt a presence behind him.
Unnervingly calm.
A crushing wave of wind slammed into Nicolae's back, sending him tumbling across the platform.
The smoke cleared.
Cassius stood untouched.
Not a speck of soot on him.
His wand was raised—
But so was his left hand.
Empty.
Bare.
Glowing faintly with raw magic.
Nicolae's eyes went wide.
"...Chantless?"
Cassius didn't answer.
Instead, he flicked his wand—
A bolt of blue energy shot from the wand tip, slamming into Nicolae's hastily raised shield.
The shield cracked.
Nicolae laughed—wild, ecstatic.
"Oh, YES! Do that again!"
He spun his wand—
"FULMINA—MAXIMA!"
A blast of white lightning tore through the air—
Cassius answered without speaking.
His wand traced a tight circle—
His left hand clenched—
A comprehensive shield emerged around him as Protego Maxima took form, meanwhile right behind came a blue-white spell of elemental fury.
The streak of lightning tracing an straight line towards the waiting victim.
"Protego!"
Nicolae forwent his usual offensive only strategy in favor of defense knowing he could not tank that hit and remain in the round.
But even with the bolt stopped Cassius was relentless.
His wand continued to trace the air, whipping left and right, flourishing in spirals.
Spells of every color shot out and impacted the shield resulting in another needing to hastily be erected.
But Cassius simply grinned this could not go on.
As his wand continued to launch attack after attack.
His free-hand flicked at his side, and with all his attention on Cassius's wand, Nicolae missed the wandlessly cast spell which struck him from his blindspot, bringing the veteran duelist down.
"ROUND ONE—VICTOR, CASSIUS SNAPE!"
The stadium thundered with disbelief.
Nicolae wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
Then he laughed again.
Loud.
Feral.
"Wahahahaha!" Nicolae couldnt help laughing out as he got back to his feet, accepting a simple dose of Dittany to heal his wounds.
Getting back to his starting point preapring for the next round as he would unleash even greater firepower to overwhelm his tactical opponent.
Across from him Cassius could only smirk, this was what he was hoping for, most of this tournament had been a serious let down.
Sure he was dueling against kids but even still these were supposed to be prodigies and genius's amonst the youths.
And yet only now in the finals had he seen even a little bit of a challenge.
And he hadnt even gone all out just quite yet.
Without continuing to grow further how on earth could he stand before his master and deliver a blow that would knock the old man down on is ass, as he stood triumphant over him, as payment for doing the same to him during his graduation exam.