A/N: *emerges from underneath piles of schoolwork* Oh, hi. I'm sorry that I haven't been around too much but, school has lots of work attached to it. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.

Chapter Nine: The Dueling Competition

The first of December hit Hogwarts with a wall of snow. They woke up to find three feet worth on the ground. Winds whipped up the snow into a frenzy, and tried to push students off of their feet as they walked the grounds to Hagrid's hut for their lessons, before retreating back to the relative safety of the castle.

Heading down for breakfast, on the fifth, Harry and his friends found the Americans were waiting for them, just inside of the foyer. Suddenly, Tegwen pounced on an unsuspecting Ron, who was walking ahead of the other group, grabbing him by the collar of his robe and slamming him against the stone wall.

"Your brother is Charlie Weasley, right?" She demanded. "He takes care of dragons?" Ron whimpered, in both pain and affirmation. "You tell that brother of yours that I am going to punch him in the face for what he put those dragons through. I will not stand for such harsh treatment, not while I'm still alive to hear of it!"

Ron nodded again, as Angus dragged his assailant away, sitting her down on the opposite side of the hall and firmly speaking with her. With Nova's help, she eventually calmed down, and joined the group again. Breakfast was pleasant from there on and Harry headed out into the storm, towards Hagrid's hut. Despite the suspiciously rocking boxes around the back of the hut, Harry was able to pay attention as Hagrid talked to them about bowtruckles, which despite a few being able to be found in the trees, had all seemed to have gone into hibernation.

Afterwards, Harry trekked back into the school amidst the howling winds, joining his friends, minus Hermione, for lunch, when said girl sat down between him and Neville. "And where has the mysterious Hermione Granger been?" Harry asked. Hermione opened her mouth to reply, before Neville cut across her.

"Wait, Harry. My inner eye! It sees! She was in the library!" The boys, joined by Alex, laughed until Hermione playfully smacked their arms and Nova smacked Alex.

"What was that for, woman?" He groaned.

"Behave." She ordered. "Or I'll set Tegwen on you."

"Yes, mom." Alex replied, earning him another smack, and one from Tegwen too.

"As a matter of fact," Hermione continued, with a small smile, "I was signing up for a couple of the side competitions." At the confused look of the boys, both girls rolled their eyes.

"There were three side competitions introduced into the tournament. One each in Dueling, Potions, and Runes. And-"

"And you signed yourself up for all three?" Harry guessed. Hermione smiled at it.

"Exactly. The Dueling Competition is on the 11th. You can help me train, if you want."

"We would love to." Nova said, "Especially since I'm competing in it, as well. Let's meet up after class and we can see how well you do." The day passed in a blur for them and, soon enough, they were meeting in a deserted classroom on the third floor.

Angus and Alex had cleared it of all the desks and chairs, leaving a glowing 20 foot wide circle in the center. Nova squared off against Hermione, keeping a relaxed stance, while Hermione got ready to cast.

"Want to make a bet to the outcome?" Harry asked Neville.

"10 Galleons says Hermione wins." Neville whispered back, as Alex cleared his throat.

"On my signal...Ready...BEGIN!"

Hermione began casting in earnest, a couple good spells aimed at Nova's legs and wand. Nova grinned and side-stepped all the spells. Hermione kept casting and Nova kept dodging or blocking, returning a couple spells, until Hermione paused for a moment.

She was panting slightly and Harry saw the smirk on Nova's face before she went on the offensive, spells flying at the tired witch across from her. Hermione blocked most of them, before Nova finished the duel by casting a powerful Augamenti, soaking the floor and Hermione's hair, while a quick Glacius froze the water, both on the floor and that in her opponent's bushy hair, causing her to stagger, from the sudden weight, and fall on the ice. "Duel End!" Alex called, walking up and clapping while money exchanged hands in the background.

"Now, Hermione, what did you learn?" He asked, reaching out to help her stand up, while Nova set about fixing her hair.

"Falling on ice tends to hurt terribly." Hermione groaned, rubbing her lower back.

"That's close. Try again."

"I can change the environment that a duel is happening in?"

Alex smiled. "Absolutely. Duels are either about overpowering your opponent or out maneuvering them. Nova tried to show you both." Turning back to Nova, he asked, "And what did you think?"

Nova smiled, "She has a good knowledge of spells, but tends to be a bit unimaginative in their use." She smiled at the defeated look on Hermione's face.

"This was not meant to beat you down, Hermione. Just think over this stuff. Think of how you can use what you know to a greater array of challenges. An excellent intellect, without the wisdom to use it, is useless."

"Now, you should see what overpowering someone looks like. Harry, would you mind stepping up? I just need you to cast the strongest shield charm you can." Harry nodded and stood facing Nova. "Oh no, not me." Nova said with a smile, "You'll be facing off against Alex." Harry nodded, still undaunted. Alex stepped forward and drew a deep breath in, his eyes closed, before letting the breath out, his eyes snapping back open. He isn't just looking at me, Harry realized, he's trying to intimidate me.

Harry looked back, trying to remain cool, even as Alex kept eye contact with him. "Go!" Nova yelled, Harry throwing up a shield charm, while Alex cast a high-powered stunning spell. Harry felt the impact of the spell. He stumbled backwards, as his shield shattered with the sound of breaking glass. "Whoa! That's a strong stunner."

"Well, I went looking through old texts a couple years ago, and I found an old collection of studies that showed a correlation between physical fitness and magical prowess." Alex explained, smiling confidently. "So I developed a workout routine for myself, took some lessons at a nearby dojo, and here I am now. You guys are free to join me, if you want."

After considering it, everyone turned him down. Seeming to have expected this, he shrugged and joined in the discussion of how to help Hermione get better.

The next week passed with the dueling practice continuing. Hermione would duel with Harry, Alex, or Nova. All three had differing skills and helped her prepare against those who had the most experience. Harry could put large amounts of raw power behind his spells, Nova could cast very fast, and Alex specialized in spells that would be used to take her down hard and fast. For the occasional challenge, Tegwen would step in and go up against Hermione. She was very good at creatively dodging spells, either moving out of their way or turning them back upon the caster. Her own magic felt fueled by raw fury on her part, because they all were large and unstable. Angus acted like her coach from the side, helping her with reminders about form and technique. Something notable about this girl was that she never spoke a single word in her battles, choosing only to communicate through her eyes. This was obviously something that Alice enjoyed about the group, because she always made careful sketches as the duels went on.

By the weekend, Hermione was exhausted from the effort of dueling them, but she was getting better, more imaginative with her spells. She even was able to do what Nova called "spell chains". When Hermione had appeared ready to consult a book, Nova stopped her. "You already know what they are, you don't need to look that up. And nobody really writes down spell chains. It allows their opponents to read about them and counter future attempts."

The day of the tournament finally arrived and, after a quick breakfast, the Great Hall was cleared leaving the 128 competitors divided into 32 groups in order to initiate the dueling. Those duels were followed by another 32, to cut the number of combatants by half. The remaining would then fall into a 5-tier, single elimination style contest. Among the combatants that were in the first group, Harry recognized Daphne, Neville, and Susan Bones, a fourth year Hufflepuff that Neville liked. Harry laughed at the thought that Neville might have to face off against Susan. This time, with the other students being allowed in to watch, Harry finally saw how they kept track of who won and lost for the competition. All the duelists were outfitted with a leather harness, having numbers displayed above their heads. Understanding instantly what it meant, he tried to find some familiar faces among the remaining duelists. All his friends had survived to this round, although Tegwen had entered and been defeated. Even though, Harry didn't exactly consider her a friend.

30 minutes later, the battlefield had been reduced to eight potential victors: Nova, Malfoy, Hermione, a Beauxbaton student, Daphne, a Durmstrang student, Neville, and Susan. It had been decided that the last seven matches would take place individually and use much of the room available in the Great Hall, with Flitwick as the impartial judge.

Malfoy and Nova faced off against each other. "Bow." Flitwick called in his squeaky voice, to which Nova bowed low, while Malfoy merely inclined his head. The lack of respect that Malfoy was giving his opponent was known to everyone who watched these sorts of matches. "Wands at the ready." Draco pointed his out in front of him,adopting the stance of a fencer who was using a rapier, while Nova relaxed and waited for the word to begin.

"BEGIN!"

"Langlock!" Malfoy yelled. The spell hit and Nova's counter dinged from 10 to 9. Harry was not impressed. Now, Nova wouldn't be able to say the spells aloud, which Malfoy may believe would give him an advantage, and he would be dead wrong.

Malfoy's superior smile came on, thinking he had won before casting Stunning Spell at her. The fact that she dodged seem to surprise him, as Nova decided to end it a little bit slower than normal. She jumped around Draco's barrage of Stunning Spells and Stinging Hexes, merely dodging and sending out silent Augamenti charms, which seemed to only annoy Draco, who kept getting soaked and losing points.

Finally, as Malfoy stopped casting and looked away, Nova struck with a well-placed, high-powered Glacius, freezing the water on his robes and body, and freezing him in place. A smattering of applause greeted her, as Malfoy was ruled out. He was defrosted and grumbled about "cheating Americans" before sulking off to the stands that surrounded the dueling area.

Next, Hermione faced off against Maud Desjardins, the Beauxbaton student. She appeared to be rather bored about facing Hermione, though more from confidence in her ability than actually considering her to be a threat. But if she made the mistake to underestimate Hermione, Harry would let her do just that. It would be a good wake-up call to the rest.

They assumed their stances as Professor Flitwick called, "Bow! Ready...Begin!" And the silence descended, both witches staring each other down, daring the other to show their hand. Hermione fired a couple quick spells, which Maud defended against, before retaliating with her own. The small battle ensued for a couple minutes, before moving back to a staring contest.

Then he saw Hermione prepare a spell that she had been working on. Waving her wand in a zigzag motion before flicking it at the witch, she yelled, "Gravis Stupefy!" The red light left the end of her wand and streaked towards the other witch, who quickly pulled up a shield. But, instead of dissipating, the spell rebounded back at Hermione, who stepped out of the way and let it hit the magically erected, clear wall behind her, bouncing off it again. Harry grinned. They had been studying how to alter spells and here was a rather useful one that Hermione had come across.

However, it required a great deal of concentration, and you couldn't cast any other spell while you held it. The other girl still seemed puzzled by it and tried to step out of the way, only for it to rebound and hit her again, before Hermione released it and leaned over.

Unlike Harry, her magic reserves were only a little above average and she couldn't hold the spell long. But, she was able to leave the dueling arena victorious.

Then, Daphne and Ekel Yakovich, the Durmstrang student, stood facing each other. Harry felt a tiny pocket of fear open up in his stomach, before trying to quash it. She has routinely beaten you. She can handle herself. No matter what he told himself, he couldn't make it leave him alone completely.

"Bow! Ready...Begin!" Flitwick called and Ekel struck quickly and accurately, several spells flying quickly at Daphne. She calmly raised a shield and went about observing him. Harry knew this tactic well. She would let her opponent tire themselves out, while she observed the way they moved and attacked. After a few more minutes, she finally started dodging and Harry saw the end coming. As Ekel kept shooting spells of increasing lethality at her, she kept dodging with a grace that had Harry getting a little red in embarrassment. Finally, she shot out a quick stream of spells that distracted the male from her real attack. A well-timed attack on his footing and wand hand brought her to victory. The moody Durmstrang student sulked off to the stands, glaring daggers at her.

Harry grinned and stifled a laugh at the match that he had seen coming and knew would provide him with hours of entertainment; Susan and Neville, two people who had been exchanging glances at each other for three years. It would be quite interesting to see how they did against each other when looking at the other made them blush. Both stepped up to face the other, bowed when they were supposed to, and then when given the signal,began one of the shortest duels.

While Neville had been able to fight his way through the previous combatants, it was only because he could keep a level head. But here he could do no such thing. In fact, the stunning spell he fired knocked him off the platform, making Susan the winner, though she didn't know it until she heard the clapping and looked up.

Susan and Daphne took the platforms next, both bowing when instructed before assuming their ready stance. Susan lowered her center of gravity while Daphne bounced on the balls of her feet a bit. Flitwick counted them down, and as they began, Daphne immediately went to her knees, firing off a couple spells, before rolling off tothe side, dodging around Susan's spells. Watching them, Harry noticed that they weren't taking it too seriously, which he could understand. There were three Hogwarts competitors compared to the single Salem dueler. Having seemed to finally get bored, Daphne sent a low tripping jinx that Susan got hit by, and just laid on the floor. Smiling, Daphne helped Susan up and they both walked off as the penultimate duel was set up.

Hermione and Nova stood facing each other, no tension between them. To Hermione, it was simply going to be a measure of how good she had gotten. For Nova, it would just be another practice duel.

"Just remember what we discussed." She told Hermione, who nodded, smiling.

"BOW…READY...BEGIN!"

Hermione fired off a couple spells, side stepping Nova's spells. She and Nova danced around, before Hermione summoned a large cloud of smoke, obscuring the crowd's view and her opponent's. Nova quickly blew the smoke away, only to find herself alone. Smiling, Nova closed her eyes, adopting a look of deep concentration. A few seconds later, Nova smiled, her arms coming up in a position of surrender as Hermione faded back into view from underneath the disillusionment charm, grinning ear to ear.

"Winner, Hermione Granger." Flitwick called, "Now, we will have a ten minute break, for the competitors to rest."

"Excellently done, Hermione." Alex said, "I see you have learned well. Now, you've just got one more to beat."

"And I will." She replied, a hard determination shining in her eyes.

Daphne and Hermione faced off against each other, both smiling at the other. While it had most of the guys fooled, many of the women could feel the tension behind the facades.

"Snedronningen..." Hermione said, with a small curtsy. And just like that, Daphne's smile vanished, replaced by a hard scowl. Whatever Hermione had said, had struck a nerve and Harry wasn't sure that was a good idea.

"BOW...READY...BEGIN!" And just like that, the duel began.

Light flashed everywhere, spells spoken at an almost unintelligible speed. And as spells flew, both witches never stood still, always moving around, trying to gain the upper hand. Hermione had stopped smiling too, a grimace on her face as she tried to corner her opponent. Both stopped, panting from the strain physically and magically. A few minutes later though, they were back to casting spells at each other. However, they were slower, turning the fight to a real strategic match as opposed to trying to overpower the other. After five minutes, last spells stopped and both girls were panting heavily before they both collapsed to their knees, and then their sides. Nova, Alex, and Harry were quickly up and hurrying to them.

"Ha, serves the Mudblood bitch right." A voice drawled and both Harry and Alex stopped. Harry rounded on Draco with a fury in his eyes, ready to punch him at the next word he said. But he stopped when a hand went to his shoulder. Looking back, he saw Alex standing there with an unreadable expression.

"Harry, Madame Pomfrey needs help."

Harry began to protest before the grip tightened. "I will speak with Mr. Malfoy about his distasteful comment." As Harry moved off, Alex took a deep breath and slowly began walking towards Malfoy. "Would you mind repeating that?" He asked, and everyone felt the temperature drop.

Well, everyone except for Malfoy, who responded with, "I called her a Mudblood, just as her ilk deserve to be called."

"I see...Well, if I know your customs here well enough, let me just say two words: Honor Duel. You have spat on her honor and, as a close friend, I challenge you to one such duel in her stead." The air stopped, as the situation hit everyone. Malfoy had made him an enemy of the Salem Champion and now, he had been called out to show his stuff. If he accepted, he would lose. And if he declined...

"I accept." Several faces paled at Draco's words.

"Professor Flitwick," Alex called, "Would you please officiate?"

"Of course." Was the reply, as he shook himself out of the shock. "This is an Honor Duel. The match will end when one party submits or is unable to continue. Duelists, to your marks." Alex stood at one end of the hall, while Malfoy went to the other. "Bow." Both did so, with varying degrees of respect. "Ready...BEGIN!"

"Langlock!" Malfoy's spell zoomed over at Alex, who didn't move, before finally leaning his head to the right as the spell missed.

"Really? Is that it?" Alex asked, pulling his cloak off. "Diffindo." The cloak was split into two. "Reformabit ferro." The two pieces of the cloak reformed into two katar, which he then put on his hands. "Ready?"

Draco stared at him, gobsmacked, along with most of the crowd. "What are those?"

"Katar. Have you never seen them before?" Draco started firing spells at him rapid-fire, while Alex cut through them with his katar. Smiling, almost manically, he lunged at Draco, or rather next to Draco, cutting through his robes. As Draco tried to round on him, Alex leaned out of the way, staying to Malfoy's side or back. Alex kept dancing around him, cutting his robes repeatedly, before the katar became fabric again and Alex socked Draco in the jaw.

"HALT!" A yell came from the stands. "How dare you lay a finger on my son!?" Lucius Malfoy strode down from his seats. "You dare-"

"Who're you?" Alex groaned, not interested in dealing with any upset parents.

"Lucius Malfoy, the father of the boy you have hit. Your actions are in direct violation of dueling etiquette. Such brutish actions are to-"

"Professor Flitwick," Alex cut across Lucius, "was there anything illegal about what I just did?"

The Charms Professor looked thoughtful for a moment, before responding, "There are no strict rules that state there may be no physical contact and I never laid any rules forbidding physical contact, as such, there is no punishment. However, Mr. Malfoy is correct about dueling etiquette."

Lucius looked furious that there would be no punishment, while Alex shrugged off the remark about proper etiquette, before rushing off to join the others in the Hospital Wing.

A/N: Yes, I am aware that this isn't the best. Feel free to crap all over it. I will take criticisms constructively.