Fleur De Lis

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The Quidditch match that followed the dueling matches was already the stuff of legends. No one had expected the spectacular performance of Harry Potter, and while his loss to Krum for the snitch was certainly not a surprise, he certainly proved himself extremely capable on a broom. With the help of Oliver Wood the team had a two pronged strategy. One part was to disrupt Krum at every possible turn. Their goal was not to beat the best in the world, but like the Irish their plan was to delay him as long as possible, and Harry did just that. He drew half a dozen foul shots, and nearly got a technical twice for roughing the opposing seeker, but Oliver saved 5 out of 6 foul shots, and the chasers led by Justin Potter had scored close to two hundred and fifty points in just over an hour. The final score was Hogwarts 240, Durmstrang 220. Krum had once again been outscored to win the match, much to the man's obvious ire. Harry had to give it to the chasers and Oliver Wood, the team had played the game of their lives.

The party thrown that night deserved its own chapter in Hogwarts a History, because it showed all four houses coming together and celebrating the great victory. The fireworks that had come from Hogsmeade throughout the evening seemed to show even the Alumni of Hogwarts that had attended the matches were thrilled to see their school on top of the world. It certainly seemed with the Potter boys' help they were going to sweep the competition in dueling, quidditch, and the tournament itself.

It was a cold day in early December when Harry and Justin were finishing their training on the grounds. Despite nearly a foot of snow, the two brothers had paved out an area to train in, and pushed each other as much as possible regardless of the ugly weather.

At the end of their training, Harry was feeling great and took a deep breath of fresh air. He threw his arm around his brother happily, "This summer I am going to enter you into the under 17 dueling circuit. I was your age when I started, and I suspect you will hold your own. If not, then someone is going to get that ego of yours in check."

Justin grinned cheekily at the boy, "It's not discouraging losing to you, and after taking down Krum I just feel invincible."

Harry nodded in understanding, "Well, you are a long way from being so. Keep your head on straight or Volkoff is going to take your head off. Some of those curses she was firing at my head might've seen me in Saint Mungos. I'm surprised Maxime didn't stop her a few times."

"Maybe she was hoping that Durmstrang would take you out so they would have a chance at winning. I've seen Aimee and Fleur duel, and they are definitely not slouches. You may actually have to try against either of them." Justin said wisely.

"I would never underestimate an opponent. My master would have me flogged in the streets." Harry said with a slip of the tongue. Immediately he chastised himself for calling the man his master. It was likely the first time he had referred to Gellert as anything but mentor or teacher to his family, but if his brother noticed his slip up then he didn't comment on it.

"I think it will be a lot of fun entering the circuit. Is that what you are going to do when you graduate? Travel the world and beat down on adults everywhere? I know you enjoy making them cry." Justin inquired, interested in his brother's future plans.

Harry thought on this, "I've been told it was once a right of passage for powerful wizards to travel the world and increase their knowledge and understanding of magic. I think I'll do that first. It also partly depends on the state of things with Voldemort. If he continues to make moves, then I'l pursue masteries with things I've invented, and prepare for the coming conflict. That would mean I'd be preparing you to help protect our family full time as well. This won't be like the last war though. When things come to a head, victory or defeat will be decided quickly. We'll throw everything we have at the man until we have buried the bastard for good, and when it's finally done, only then I will be able do as I please."