And the Victor is—

[Day of the Duel — Training Grounds, Hogwarts]

{Lucius Abraxas Malfoy}

"He will do just fine." The man had features non-native to the lands. "He has a few tricks up his sleeves."

"I hope so, professor." 

He said he was from the Middle East, not native to Britain nor used to the culture. But he seemed to have adjusted faster than any other.

Though how did a man manage to get inside of Hogwarts that easily?

"Good Evening, students." The headmaster decided to finally entertain the crowd that stood curious. "I hope you are not too tired after your classes."

"I would have preferred this to have been held earlier." I truly felt that. It was not the best time for them to do a duel, tired and mentally exhausted from the classes.

"This was actually my idea." Safar, the man that sat with his legs crossed next to me said. "It will teach the students that their actions have consequences and they need to deal with those consequences no matter the time and the conditions, even if they are exhausted."

He held a fair point, but I doubt Draco would have to face a scene such as this in the future.

"And this will also show us how good they are with handling stress." He sat comfortably, not worried about the match. It was as if he was watching a show —which the students definitely felt to be the case— unbothered to maintain the appearance of a professor.

"Today, after discussing with the professors and the students involved, we have decided to arrange an exhibition duel match." The headmaster's voice was amplified by magic, "As it was decided, every dispute that would require the need to call for familial involvement, of course sprouting from general disagreement and or insult would be solved by duels."

He looked around and made sure that his voice was heard. "Non life threatening duels."

I finally saw Draco walking forward, in the visible range.

"Today's match will be between Draco Lucius Malfoy."

Draco stepped forward, neither nervous or scared, something that made me smile.

"And Harry James Potter!" 

Potter, the fake hero, walked forward and the crowd seemed to have grown louder, cheering for him.

While for Draco, only a countable few cheered.

"Winning always feels better when you have only a few cheering for you." The man seemingly noticed my expression. "Proving people wrong and going above and beyond their expectations is the best thing one can do."

Maybe he wasn't wrong.

"Draco will win." 

"You sound confident?" I asked the man that sat and watched the two boys walking forward.

"And you are not confident in your son."

"I am." I was, he was capable of not ruining his image at the very least. "But I am not confident in what those people have going on behind our backs."

"You don't seem to trust the professor much." He made an acute observation.

"How many came to help Draco and how many decided to help Potter?" I asked, looking at him.

"Understood." He nodded, before focusing back on the duel.

"Both parties hold your stance!"

The Potter boy immediately took out his wand and stood in a little pushed back stance.

"Is he going for defense?" The man mused, and it did appear to be a defensive stance. The boy made no movement, still and focused on Draco.

"Remember that no life threatening or instant harm and non-defendable spells would be allowed." The headmaster's voice echoed. "You may begin… NOW!"

I expected them to rush in, children often did. But surprising me, neither of them moved. 

Potter analyzing Draco, and Draco looking straight —seemingly curious.

"Tell me, Lucius." 

This made me lose focus, from the duel to straight at the man.

He had not just called me by my name…

"How would you feel?" He asked, a curious smile plastered across his face. "If your son was to join the dark forces before you imagined, much before than you anticipate?"

And that's when my suspicion of the man came true.

He joined Hogwarts for a reason.

And a not so good reason at that —one that had my face pale.

…

…

"Don't tell me you are too scared to point your wand at me, Potter?"

Both father and son were the same.

Both were cocky when they felt they had an advantage.

"What do you mean…"

And both lost their bravery the moment someone said something slightly beyond their capabilities.

"Don't worry, I will make sure that Draco does not lose face." I assured the man. "He will win tonight."

But the man had long since lost interest in the duel.

"What do you mean by Dark Forces?" His voice was grim, pale and cold as he stared at me.

"Whatever it means." I focused on the match, "Look, your son seems to have grown a bit smarter under me."

"You are a disgrace Potter." Draco said, voice amplified by Dumbledore's magic for the audience's convenience. "Not even daring to fight, to attack after your friend's reputation was put on line, after your reputation was on line."

"Don't listen to him Harry!" Hermione shouted from the audience but was met with Flitwick's disapproving look.

Audiences were not allowed to be involved with the things that happened in the duel. All they could do was watch.

"You are pathetic. You involve yourself with mudbloods and traitors and you cannot even protect your own friends." Draco mocked, "You are only trouble for everyone, Potter."

"The mark on your forearm." I did not bother looking at Lucius. "You have hidden it well, even from being traced by skilled wizards."

"You—" Lucius' eyes went wide and on the battlefield, something similar was going on with Harry.

"Harry don't!" His friends cried out as the boy lost his stance and went ahead with an offense instead of a defense.

"Watch the match." I suggested it to him, and the match had started to get interesting.

"Incendio!" Harey roared out, blasting a ball of fire at Draco.

"Aguamenti Maxima!" Draco countered, not the best spell but it did the job —canceling out the fires.

Lucius clenched his fists, unsure of where to focus. On one side, his son was facing his first wizard battle and on the other, his secrets were at stake.

But of course, he was Lucius Malfoy.

"Tell me…" He gritted his teeth. "What do you know?"

He would rather sacrifice his son than his secrets or his house.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

It was a tad bit annoying to know that I would not be able to cast these spells. And even if Dark Arts had such spells, I would be pelted by stones if I tried to use it in public.

I would have to focus on elemental magic during fights, which could work.

"Tell me!" He yelled, loud enough for me to hear but not enough to cause a commotion or draw attention to us.

Spells on spells were thrown, parkour was displayed as they threw the spells.

"I know a lot, Lucius." I finally spoke. "And why do you think that Snape is neutral on all this? Why do you think he is not playing tricks on either Draco or Harry?"

He paused, he knew Snape. He never trusted Snape because he knew of the feelings that the man harbored for Harry's mother.

"I can make you a promise today." I gave the man a choice. "Your son's victory today, embarrassment of Potter, and your secret remain a secret." 

His face was aghast, horror and anger equally visible. "What do you want?"

"I will tell you." I said, "Oh, I will tell you alright."

Harry was skilled, much more natural than Draco. Faster, stronger and better.

Draco had a hard time keeping up and even Lucius noticed that.

"He will not win." The father deduced, "And you will not keep the secrets."

It would mean to be the case if Draco lost.

"I told you." I assured him, "I will not let your son lose today."

It was time for me to get involved. Draco had realized that he could not win with the same magic as Harry.

Of course the boy wasn't going to accept that he was worse than Potter, he would blame the teachers for having taught more to Harry.

But whatever the case, he had realized that he could never win with conventional magic.

"Watch."

Draco was conjuring a massive fireball. He had learnt the 'Maxima' of spells after hours of practice and it was a good thing that he learnt that. He was able to create bigger and much stronger versions of the spells.

Even the Incendio that he was casting was massive, massive enough to hide a certain Dark Art.

"You…" Lucius' eyes went wide as he felt the aura from my lifted finger. 

"Don't talk." I said, "No one out of our vicinity can sense it. So, draw no attention."

The man went silent, hissing under his breath at the scene.

His mark on the forearm was flaring, and I could see a certain someone else also going through the same pain —a certain professor.

"Incendio—" Draco casted, while Harry prepared to protect himself. "Maxima!"

And with that, a massive flare flew at the scarred hero —flying straight at him.

"Protego Maxima!" The boy tried to cast a protection charm, trying to defend against the fire.

But it wouldn't work.

It didn't work.

"Harry!" I heard the boy's friends yelling. 

Draco's spell was not meant to hit Harry, it was not the point. The point was hitting the ground around him and causing it to crack and shatter, splattering the rock hard shards of earth everywhere.

Dust flew off, reducing the vision of everyone around the place. No one knew what was going on behind the dust.

Except me, except Draco and most certainly except Harry.

"What have you done?!" Lucius gasped, feeling the spike in pain around his forearm.

"Enough to ensure your son's victory but not enough to reveal you and the others."

"Harry!!!"

As the dust cleared, Harry's shuddering body was visible.

This was going to be an anticlimactic duel. But it would have felt much more ridiculous if a Dark Arts spell, especially a masked Crucio, was unable to make the boy wriggle in pain and turned incapable of defending.

"And with this!" Draco yelled, much to the horror of everyone supporting Harry —even the professors. "I win!"

"Expulso Maxima!" 

And hidden inside it was a Doloris curse. Hidden well enough to only be controlled by me, and capable of hitting at the area that mattered the most —the brain.

"Harry no!!!"

Harry was unable to protect himself from the spell; Crucio had dulled his movements as Draco overpowered him. With that, both the Expulso Maxima that threw him off by a few feet and the Doloris that hit him directly inside, turning his world dark and causing him to faint on the spot, decided the winner of the match.

"And as I said, your son wins."

"D-Draco Lucius Malfoy is the victor!" Dumbledore spoke with both disbelief and worry.

Worry for Harry, the same worry that had a majority of the students and professors running to check on him —leaving Draco standing alone, reminding that winning duels was not enough.

Winning the people was everything.

…

…

{Lucius Abraxas Malfoy}

Draco had won, I should feel proud. But I didn't.

He didn't win, he was made to win.

He was used.

"How do they not sense the Dark Arts?" 

"Do you sense it?" He asked, "Other than when I used it? Do you sense it from Potter or on him?"

I tried looking at the boy from the gallery, and tried to use the mark from the Morsmordre spell that he-who-should-not-be-named planted on me. But it didn't work.

Nothing was present on Potter, no dark presence.

"No one has noticed anything, nor will they notice anything." He spoke confidently.

"I promised you." He looked at me, cockily. "You son's victory, Potter's embarrassment and your secret kept a secret."

He did… and he did keep them.

"What do you want?" I had to ask, there was a reason he started everything.

"Truth be told, it is all very simple, Malfoy." He said, finally getting off. "A simple task you have to do."

I knew that this was not going to be simple.

Not at all.

"I want you to find him."

"Pardon?" My voice cracked, aware of what he was asking.

"Find me where he is recovering, and bring me to him."

"Who…"

I knew who he was talking about. But I wished it wasn't him.

Unfortunately, the man was looking for the exact same person.

"Voldemort."

The one I had been hiding from.

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