191 Chapter 191: Centurion
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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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18 February 1994, Hogwarts
Blaise audibly groaned at the grating voice of Ludo Bagman resounding all over the arena. He had gotten sick very quickly of the man's voice during the past few days. He would consider it a mercy if never heard Bagman speak again in his life.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the third and final round of the preliminary second tasks. By the end of the day, we will have fourteen students qualifying from the lower bracket and fourteen students qualifying from the upper bracket of the tournaments. Starting tomorrow, age will not matter. Every contestant would have proven themselves enough for age to not become a critical advantage."
Blaise had to admit that if nothing else, the man knew how to captivate an audience. If it wasn't for his gambling problems, and the general uselessness of his position in the ministry, Bagman would have made a good career as a Quidditch commentator.
However, the man didn't know shit about duelling. He didn't know tactics, spells, or even complex manoeuvres. Blaise didn't know why Dumbledore didn't just get a professional dueling commentator for the event, but they now had to listen to Bagman talk about things he just didn't get, and sound like a first-year describing a fight. Maybe it was because he spent too much time with Harry, but such incompetence irked him slightly.
Speaking of Harry, the boy had been distracted for the last few days, specifically ever since Longbottom almost killed Warrington in their duel – seriously, what the fuck was wrong with that guy? Not that Harry needed to focus on the duels or anything. He'd literally won his previous fights with a single spell. The crowd loved it, of course, but they had no idea just how bullshit Harry was at magic. Seriously, Blaise had seen him create spells out of thin air, and when he took things seriously with his space-warping magic, he was unstoppable. He'd even recreated a basic version of Blaise's own light magic. Oh, it was a lot less powerful and less refined, but Harry had done it out of curiosity. Fucking curiosity. People have spent centuries trying to steal the Zabini crest. It was why his father was killed; people just wanted to marry him off to their daughters and have a grandchild with the Zabini crest firmly under their control.
His mother had gone mad in grief. She literally slaughtered every single person responsible, and she had done it in a way that no one could ever prove it was her. Blaise still had no idea how she had done it, but she did. She must have gotten an appetite for it since she kept doing it again and again, amassing a veritable fortune, rivalling that of his father, which was still frozen until Blaise's majority by the decision of the Italian Ministry. They had wanted Blaise's mother to submit to them, to beg for gold to return to their usual lifestyle. The least he could say would be that it did not work.
Once, Blaise thought that he'd been an unwanted product of his mother's many dalliances, one that she had never gotten rid of. He thought that she resented him as something that held her back from her goals, that stopped her from rising too much. He knew that he was wrong. She had loved his father. Alas, something broke in her, when he died, and she never quite healed.
It was a natural thing for a boy to have such doubts about an absentee mother who was obviously a serial killer, not that anyone could prove it. They weren't close, not in the same way a mother and son should be, but Blaise still loved his mother, and he knew that his mother loved him. Even if it was difficult to be known as the son of the infamous Black Widow.
Still, it stung when she told him that she wouldn't come to see him compete in the tournament. Apparently, she was having a great time in Bulgaria with some man who was probably going to be her next victim. It didn't sting as much as it did when she didn't show up for three of his birthdays in a row. He had gotten used to the disappointment long ago and learned not to have any expectations of her. He loved her; she was his mother, but he did not like her.
But that was enough thoughts about depressing things, he was there today to duel, and he should focus on that.
Bagman seemed to agree with Blaise's thoughts as he exclaimed, "Now, you all didn't come here to hear me talk. You came here for the duels, so let's get started with the first duel of the day. And aren't we starting with a banger? We have two crowd favourites fighting each other. First, we have George Weasley, or maybe is it, Fred Weasley. It doesn't matter, both are still in the tournament, and we can't make up the difference anymore. Both Weasley Twins have shown themselves to be very inventive and entertaining in their duels, relying on tricks and obscure pranking spells that somehow worked in their favour. Duelling experts are baffled by this tactic and how it seems to work, but I have to admit that their duels were very entertaining. On the other side, we have Harry Potter, the boy who won every single duel with a single spell. What a way to start the event, am I right?"
Harry and one of the Weasley twins – Blaise couldn't really tell the difference – got down from the competitor's side of the arena and towards the duelling platform. Blaise honestly felt bad for the redhead. People thought that Harry was good with a wand. They thought he was a prodigy. But they just didn't understand how much he was holding back.
Blaise's friend had a blank expression on his face. It was a tactic that Blaise was familiar with. It was just disheartening to see an opponent fighting while looking bored like they just didn't think you were worth the effort.
He didn't think Harry got just how big his shadow was. He was fine with it, at first; it was a good way to hide from the reputation of being the Black Widow's son. Blaise was never an ambitious person. He wanted to be rid of his mother's reputation, to make his father's legacy proud. He was lost, and he wanted to find himself.
And then he met Tracy. Where Harry was cold and awkward, Tracy was warm and bubbly. She wasn't a genius. Her family wasn't wealthy. She was just his friend, and things just grew from there. When Harry just forgot about him in his research or projects, Tracy tried to get to know him, really get to know him. Was it any wonder that he started to have a crush on her? The first girl to truly try to see who he was, try to understand him, to help him.
Tracy grabbed his hand as if reading his thoughts. He stiffened before relaxing slightly as she whispered, "Do you think Weasley will last more than a single spell?"
"I don't know. The twins' performance was pretty good in the last few duels."
Tracy snorted, "They pranked their opponents to submission. That's not dueling."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"I refused to call that duelling after what I had to go through while training with Harry."
Blaise suppressed the urge to shudder at the memories of Harry's training. Who would have thought that there were so many ways of winning a duel with a single spell?
Well, he had to admit to being curious as to which method Harry would use for this duel. Blaise didn't have to wait long, as both duelers bowed and took their stances. The redhead's stance was obviously defensive, focused more on dodging. Someone probably told him that shielding against someone experienced with shield breakers would be a bad idea. Interesting as most of Harry's tricks took advantage of people's overreliance on shield charms.
The young Slytherin didn't seem to be too hung up about it and raised his wand in a neutral position and just as the gong sounded, he waved his wand. To the surprise of many, including Blaise, Harry cast two spells this time. Of course, it took him less than a second to recognize what Harry was doing.
Tracy seemed to come to the same conclusion as he muttered, "He's really using that on Weasley?"
Blaise didn't answer, choosing to focus on the duel. If Harry pulled something like this off… Well, people will talk about it for a very long time, especially in duelling circles.
As expected, George Weasley ducked and was able to dodge both spells. He looked triumphant for a moment and gloated, "You missed!"
Harry just raised an eyebrow, and as if he had timed it to perfection, the spell ahead, which was blueish in colour, turned into a small pane, specifically a reflective shield charm. It was a particular variation of a spell that allowed the user to cast shields away from him. It only looked like an attacking spell to prevent loss of energy during its flight.
The red spell behind the shield, a stunner, reflected over the static shield and moved towards the Weasley's back, knocking him out. And just like that, Harry won. Most people simply didn't comprehend just how precise Harry had to time that. He had to ensure that the stunning charm would move slower than usual, and he had to make sure that the shield charm would only activate after he went past Weasley.
All they saw was Harry finally using more than one spell for the first time. They roared in excitement and applause. Even Harry's opponent just got up and shook his hand. Somehow, Harry somehow still won without showing a single thing about what he's capable of. The two spells Harry used can be cast by a normal fourth year after some study. He was making a mockery of Dumbledore's event, and people loved him for it for some ungodly reason.
How the fuck was he pulling this off?
Blaise tried to not be jealous. He really did. All he had to do was remember Hogsmeade and how terrified he felt as he held Tracy while that monster chased them down. Yeah, Harry's life wasn't one he wished for, even if his talent in magic made Blaise want to tear out his own hair at the injustice. He'd been a sucky friend to Harry, and had essentially forced him to train him and Tracy, not that Harry wouldn't have done it if they had just asked… They were acting like brats during the Hogsmeade attack. Blaise didn't know if it was some kind of resentment born out of jealousy, the fear of the situation, or just a mix of the two, but he acted like a dick while their lives were in danger.
Harry told them that he was treating them like adults now, and would stop holding their hands, but Blaise knew that he'd slowly cut them off from his projects. They lost whatever trust he had in them for their little tantrum, and they deserved it. Now, they had to live with the consequences.
The dark-skinned boy ignored Bagman's prattling about bouncy spells or whatever inane explanation he came up with, and focused on Tracy, "When he showed us this trick, I thought it would be impossible to pull off in a real duel. The precision necessary, and the danger of attacking yourself with your own spell… How do things just work out for him?"
Tracy shrugged, "No clue. I stopped questioning how Harry did stuff a very long time ago."
Quickly, Harry left the arena as the victor, and Blaise decided to just enjoy the rest of the duels. He might have to fight them someday as well. He didn't even know who he was fighting today. But he needed to show his best to the Court of Slytherin. Malfoy and Nott were still in the duel. Nott was surprisingly quick and creative with a wand; Malfoy had obviously passed with the skin of his teeth against a mediocre opponent.
He wanted to be in the Court with Tracy. Friends pulled each other up, right? And Tracy was disturbingly obsessed with joining the Court. Blaise didn't get it, but he didn't have to. All he needed to do was support her.
Of course, that's when Ludo Bagman spoke up to ruin everything, "Our next match is between Blaise Zabini," he perked up, "and Tracy Davis. Oh, a Slytherin duel, that's not something we've seen much of in this task. I wonder how they'll fare."
Blaise's mind was blank at the announcement, and he saw Tracy looking pale and shocked as well. His mind kept whirring as he went down to the platform. They had duelled before while practising, and he knew that he was better at it than her.
Tracy looked at him with teary eyes. Were they really going to fight for this? For a position in the Court? Would it be worth it?
The answer was simple. Blaise tossed away his wand, a blasphemous action for a wizard to take, and raised his hands, "I forfeit!"
Tracy looked honestly shocked at his actions like she didn't expect him to do something like this. Did she think that he valued a position in a school club more than her?
Leaving the crowd speechless, the young Slytherin picked up his wand and left the arena, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.
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I'll be honest here, I'm not really sure about this chapter. I wanted to add a Blaise POV to give some life to the character. So, please let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.
