THE LIGHTNING LORD

Chapter 27 : Under-13 International Duelling Championship

Harry got up early on the first of August to meditate and spent the next several hours on his Occlumency so that he could remember all the spells and techniques he had practiced. Daphne had convinced everyone that she wanted to see the Duelling championship. Amelia and Sirius were immediately game, as both of them had been Aurors and the rest then agreed. Harry was mostly quiet that morning, and they all went to the championship stadium in Paris. Daphne hugged him, wished him luck and told him that she would manage the gang. Taking a deep breath, Harry entered the counter for the participants.

The person in charge asked, "Name and country?"

"Hadrian James Potter, Magical Britain" he said in a calm voice.

"Potter. Potter. Ah, here we are. You're already registered, good. Just sign here, please. Here's your tag, submit your wand for inspection in the booth inside. Good luck. Next!"

Harry entered the tent and looked around. There were witches and wizards from all over the world, and they all looked, frankly petrified. Harry could understand, for like himself, they were basically kids of the age of thirteen and below, without their parents, in a foreign land and were going to be in front of a thousand people soon. He put on his name tag and went to submit his wand.

A French wand maker was inspecting the wands. When Harry reached her, he gave his wand to her. Because of the translation potion he didn't have a problem communicating with her. "Hm, I feel like I've seen this wand before. British, oui? Then it surely must be the work of Mr Ollivander. 14 inches and rigid; Made of Yew; containing; dear me! This is the famous Nundu heartstring wand! You're definitely one to watch out for. Good luck Mr-" Her eyebrows rose when she saw his nametag. "Well, it looks like the media hasn't caught up yet. Good luck Mr Potter" she said.

Harry accepted his wand and muttered his thanks to her. He did not want the media to find out about this. He took deep breaths to calm himself and looked at the list of duels and his heart skipped a beat. It looked like he was up first!

Whilst Harry was in the waiting room, Daphne was outside, convincing everyone that Harry would be back soon. They were all seated and they could see the duelling platform clearly.

"Where's Harry? It's going to start soon!" said Astoria anxiously.

Before anyone could say more, the lights dimmed and the host stepped onto the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen" he began in French, but the group could all understand what he was saying. "Welcome to the Under-13 International Duelling Championship for the year 1992! We're going to have our preliminary rounds today, and those who qualify will be eligible for tomorrow's tournament. Those who qualify for the Quarter Finals in the morning will take part in the Simi Finals that afternoon. The winners of the Semi-Finals will take part in the Finals that night. So shall we begin?" he asked and the crowd roared.

"Our first match is between Mr Adonis of Greece and Mr Hadrian Potter of Britain. Let's give them a big round of applause" he said.

When Harry entered the arena, the entire group except Daphne had their jaws on the floor. This was something they had never expected and Sirius was so shocked he couldn't from words. Before they could react, Harry and his opponent greeted each other and took their positions.

Harry stood before his opponent. He extended his left leg forward, his left arm raised for balance, his wand was pointed 60 degrees away from his opponent and his face was expressionless and back straight. This was a stance he had worked on. It provided as a means of both defence and offence, depending on his move. Harry's opponent took an offensive position. The boy was going to strike the second he was ready. His wand was pointed at Harry, so he would use a spell that didn't require any elaborate wand movements. The best bet was either the Disarming or Stunning spell, mused Harry.