Fully illustrated! After his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, Harry woke to a disturbing reality. The wizarding world only saw him as an expendable pawn, his carefree attitude towards studying left him struggling to survive, and he had never tru...
With the note allowing him entry to the Restricted Section, books on 'harmless but deadly' spells which Flitwick had loaned, as well as Sirius' eagerness to make use of the Black Library, Harry could finally deem his list of offensive spells sufficient. The only reason to hold back on practicing them on a target was for fear of causing too much destruction.
But that wasn't a problem for Harry. The Room of Requirement repaired each statue anyway, even that giant skrewt he had accidentally blown to smithereens. This was a massive boon to Hermione who kept extolling praises about how efficient the Room was. When they took turns and Harry switched to watching from the sidelines, he noticed that although she wasn't as fast or creative in her battle tactics, all of her spells accurately targeted the statues' weaknesses and never missed. There was a calculating edge to her approach that intrigued him.
Harry let out a low whistle as he watched Hermione freeze her monstrous opponent with a strong immobility charm and then proceed to blast off both of its legs.
"Soon enough, not even the worst of the monsters this room has to offer will be a challenge for you."
"Well," Hermione huffed and pushed the sweaty strands of curly hair out of her eyes. "I'll just have to duel you then."
He raised an eyebrow. "I'm a challenge, am I?"
Hermione studied him with a pensive look and then—in a way that sent a shiver down Harry's spine—smirked slyly.
"As a matter of fact, you are. It's not exactly a secret that you're the strongest student of our year in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Year after year, you manage to achieve some impossible feat. People call you the Boy-Who-Lived for something that happened when you were a baby, but as far as I'm concerned, the Boy-Who-Survived would be more fitting considering all the horrible situations you've survived."
At his scoff, her voice grew fierce. "You don't know how you look when you're completely focused in a battle, do you? I've watched you fight these past few days and there's this—this intensity in you. Wild. Powerful. Burning in your eyes. Maybe it should scare me, but all it does is make me want to face that energy head-on."
Harry stood stock still, not expecting Hermione to have seen into him so closely. Seen the anger and fear and storm of emotions that he always kept bottled up inside of him being channelled into his training. The truth was that he liked not having to hold back, liked setting himself loose, liked not having to care about the consequences.
It frightened him how much he liked it.
Why didn't it frighten her?
He met her determined eyes and said, "Let's do it then. A duel."
"Just one?"
"As many as it takes for you to defeat me." He said and was promptly forced to duck a stinging hex. "Hey!"
He chuckled and got into a fighting stance, readying his wand. "You may not be frightened of me, but I can't say the same for you. You are brilliant, Hermione Granger. And a little scary."
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Harry James Potter." Hermione sniffed, raising her own wand. "Let's begin."
And so they did.
The first duel didn't last long. Hermione was quick and precise, but he was faster in the moment and better at dodging her curses.
Harry fired off an Expelliarmus which Hermione parried easily. She returned fire by chain casting a body binder, tripping jinx, and a banishing charm.
Harry ducked and rolled out of the way instead of casting a shield, watching how Hermione moved and waiting for his opening.
Before she could start another spell chain, Harry took the offensive. "Furnunculus! Diffindo! Stupefy! Stupefy!" Harry called as he moved in a semi-circle around Hermione.
His spells rained down on her and she dodged the first and cast a Protego against the following. It was exactly what Harry had been hoping for, and he pushed all his power in a banishing charm. It slammed against her Protego and threw Hermione off balance.
Harry shouted "Stupefy!" before she could right herself and the red beam struck her square in the chest, causing her to fall.
He took a steadying breath and walked over to where Hermione lay, picking up her wand and casting Enervate.
Hermione gasped as she came to, but her eyes quickly narrowed with purpose and she was on her feet again before Harry could say anything.
Silently, they took their places across from each other and began again. This next duel took longer than the first and felt twice as fierce. Hermione was relentless, but what unnerved him the most was the way she focused on every little movement he made—like she was studying him, memorizing his fighting style. Harry won again, but by the end, sweat was beading down his forehead and he was breathing in between gasps.
"Again." She said.
"Again." He repeated, feeling a thrill go through him.
They took their positions at opposite sides of the room and raised their wands once more. At the shout of go, Hermione didn't wait for Harry to fire and immediately began to move and cast spells one after the other. "Avis! Oppugno! Incarcerous!"
The birds she conquered dive-bombed Harry and while they were easily dispelled, It made him vulnerable to the ropes that flew in his direction.
He yelled "Reducto!" just before the ropes wrapped themselves around him.
Harry's curse landed on the floor in front of Hermione, causing her to be hit with bits of stone from the floor. He dispelled the ropes, while Hermione cleared the dust and debris from the air. They volleyed spells, ducking, dodging, and shielding as they moved about the room.
Hermione must have seen an opening in his movements because she tried another chain: "Langlock! Diffindo! Reducto!"
When he still chose to dodge instead of raising a shield, she aimed the reducto at the floor just as Harry had. As soon as it landed, she cast: "Petrificus Totalus! Expelliarmus!"
Harry felt himself falling and his wand go flying.
When he gained control of his body again, he opened his eyes to see Hermione standing over him with her wand levelled towards his chest.
"Thank you," Hermione said with a gleam of triumph in her eyes and a large grin on her face. "For the challenge."
"I'll beat you next time," Harry promised.
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If possible, she smiled even wider. "I look forward to it."
And as Harry lay on the ground—tired, sweaty, and his muscles aching from the practice—he couldn't help but laugh, feeling happier and more alive than he had in a long time.
