81 On To Day 2

Once the officials are on the stage taking away the man now bound in chains I am lifted into the air as thin arms wrap around me.

"Soren! Are you hurt anywhere?!" Auntie says as she hugs me tightly looking down at me.

I try to squirm out as the air is squished out of me. I turn to Sis for help only for her to join the hug squishing me more…. After they calm down we all sit in the stands as Auntie and Sis sit next to me protectively.

They question me about how I'm feeling and I answer honestly for the most part. Cedric and Leon were both incredibly concerned for my well-being as well which made me feel good since I haven't known either of them particularly long.

After disappearing with the officials' Professor Flitwick returned with an upset face. "Soren, the tournament chairman would like to speak with you."

Auntie stands up first "Good, I will be having some words with him." I stand up as well with a wry smile.

Flitwick doesn't look too keen on protesting her claim, he just turns around "Then follow me."

We get up and follow him through the halls, Auntie keeps a hand on my back obviously feeling I'm more shaken up than I actually am. Yes, I just murdered a man, but this isn't the first. Not only that but he had it coming.

Eventually, we reach large double doors and Flitwick knocks on them. They slowly swing open magically revealing a tallish man with brown hair and a slightly handsome face. He smiles as we enter and gestures for us to sit.

"I am Laurent Martin, the chairman of the french dueling association and host of this tournament." He lowers his head "Let me start off by giving you my sincerest apology for letting this happen on my watch."

He looks back up meeting Aunties eyes and I see him visibly shiver. "The matter is being investigated by the ministry as we speak. We have already handed him over, it was discovered he was a Vampire not human. The referee had been turned into a thrall."

The second he says vampire it clicks in my head 'Oh, shit.' I think to myself as I look away so nobody sees the surprise written on my face.

"How did he get past the charms?" Auntie asks with a smile.

Mr. Martin clears his throat "We don't know yet. We are currently investigating the other officials as well as Soren's other opponent's." He turns to face me so I meet his gaze "That's why I have to ask. Would you like to continue in this tournament, Soren?"

I nod "I would like to, yes."

"Are you sure about that Soren?" Auntie asks me with concern.

I give her a reassuring smile "I'm fine Auntie."

The chairman laughs "You have a strong Son ma'am."

Auntie sighs as she grips my shoulder caringly "Perhaps too strong." I blush a bit being called her son but I smile a bit. I can feel the darkness in the back of my head nagging at me reminding me that I'm living a lie. I am not her Son, I'm not even her nephew.

I snap out of it as I remember something, I look up at the Chairman "If I may ask, why does it seem like every person in my tournament bracket is from the same 5 eastern European countries? And why am I the first seed? I haven't even entered a dueling tournament."

He looks a bit confused "The bracket placements are all random except for seeded placements. As for why you are first is because the British and Bulgarian chairman fought hard for you. Considering your accomplishments at your age, it's a fair assessment as well."

I shrug 'This feels incredibly set up, I feel as though wizards are lacking in common sense… am I lacking in common sense as well?'

"It looks like your next duel isn't until Wednesday morning. It looks like you have time to relax, I'm sure you'll need it after that event." Chairman Martin's words snap me out of my thoughts.

I just smile and nod "Thanks, Chairman." I turn to Auntie "Is there anything you want to do since I'm free." I ask.

"Well, we haven't explored the magical side of Paris yet," Auntie says after thinking for a second.

"There you have it. I'll write down the instructions for you now." The chairman pipes up as he pulls out a piece of paper and starts writing immediately.

I sigh as we walk out, I am glad Auntie didn't blow up on the chairman. While yes it is his fault, in the end, there is only so much you can expect in the end. When we get back to the arena the duels have already begun again and Cedric and Leon are gone to their second duels for the day.

We manage to find Sis and Flitwick together just talking. We explain what was said and Sis said that she would put in a request to help with the investigation. Though I personally doubt that it will be accepted as she is still an apprentice under Shacklebolt.

****

The four of us end up going around all day buying small knick-knacks and going out to eat at nice restaurants. It took a lot of convincing to get Professor Flitwick to join us but I didn't want to be the only male so I really laid into him. I felt a bit bad guilt-tripping him but shopping alone with two women sounds awful.

Both Cedric and Leon won their matches handily, I got to hang out with them when I returned that night. They stayed over that night but we couldn't play the SNES that I brought because there was too much magic around.

They each had their fights late in the day so the eight of us went out for a late breakfast. It would have been a normal breakfast but Leon refused to wake up early. Once he got up a lot of places had started serving lunch. I think Sin was enjoying the food here more than me. It seems like he is getting used to cooked food.

Sis was not pleased but she got over it. After we ate we ended up walking around the tournament area for a long while. We watched the duels every so often, especially the first bracket duels.

Speaking of that they still hadn't gotten in touch with me despite it being almost a full day. That evening Leon had his match first so we went to watch him first. Unlike the last time, he struggled a bit but still ended up winning.

The person he faced this time was the sixth seed so it makes sense it was a hard fight. In a similar vein, Cedric's fight was also against a seeded duelist, the tenth seed. The duel was pretty close but ended the same way as the first. Lightning.

Poor guy expected it but still ended up shocked. After they won their first rounds we all went out to dinner again. There was no shortage of great restaurants, I feel lucky I don't live here. The great food added to my mass of money would have me obese in a month tops.

The next morning the french ministry came to take my statement of what happened. I told the exact truth except I said I dodged the killing curse and not that a lethifold that rests on my neck is responsible for blocking it.

Since I had a duel today I head to check in the second I got done giving the statement. My duel wasn't until 10:30 but I didn't want to be late. Not only that Cedric and Leon's last fights were today at the same time. Even if they lose they will have the final round in the evening.

****

I see Professor Flitwick waiting for me at the entrance as I approach "Yo." I say walking up taking my time.

He huffs at my casual look "I hope you won't be this laid back in the duel Mr. Black. Even if you are talented, one slipup will lose you the round."

I shrug "I'm in a good mood. This week has been fun, what can I say."

He smirks a bit "Only you would be able to survive an attempted murder and proceed to call it a 'fun week'." He shakes his head as he gestures for me to follow him in.

I look at the clock and it reads '10:15' I take in a sharp breath. "Yeah, we should hurry up. The investigators kept me longer than expected."