108 It's Over

As the tournament went on, the competition became more fierce. Duels started lasting longer since no one was able to seize an easy victory.

I knew I was lucky in my first two duels, I caught Kazan completely off guard, which prevented him from doing his best, and Lukas made the foolish mistake of taunting me, then giving me time to build my bird army. Bird army sounds dumb, but I don't know what else I can call it, and I can't believe it actually worked. Had he reacted sooner, he would have put up a much better showing.

Zack had been delighted that I used his strategy in an actual duel. He decided that he would name it angry birds. Since It was his idea in the first place, I didn't fight him over the silly name. From the gleam in his eye, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried it in one of his duels as well. If anyone could pull it off after everyone had already seen angry birds in action, it was Zack.

Having made it past two rounds, I was in the top eight. Only three duels stood in my way. My next opponent was a witch named Abeba, who was a student from Uagadou.

She had ebony skin with hair tightly twisted into a bun, ensuring her long braids wouldn't distract her in the duel. Her colorful robes made up of blue and orange patterns didn't extend past her elbows.

I couldn't help but wonder if the reason why her robes didn't extend past her elbows had anything to do with her style of magic. She was one of the Uagadou students who didn't use wands, preferring to use hand gestures and finger movements to cast magic.

Seeing how half the students from Uagadou used wands and the other half doesn't. I can't help but wonder how classes are taught. I knew my cousin used a wand, but the subject had never come up.

It will be interesting to find out how they do things at Uagadou compared to Hogwarts.

As our match approached, I banished all my shifting thoughts to the back of my mind and started mentally going over what I knew about Abeba's dueling strategy.

While two matches weren't enough to learn much about her strategy, I noticed in both her previous matches that she targeted the ground beneath her opponent's feet. Once she succeeded in manipulating the ground environment, she quickly seized control and won the duel.

When it was time for our duel, I already had the vague beginning of a plan. Usually, I like to sit back and take and play defense before using my opponent's strategy against them. But against an opponent like Abeba, that would be a mistake. She's the type of dueler who gains a bigger advantage as the duel wears on, so this time, I am going on offense from the start.

As I stood in my ring, I focused all my attention on Abeba. My eyes took in every subtle movement she made, from the slight shift in her stance to her curling and stretching her fingers. Anyone who had gotten this far in the competition was not to be underestimated. Likewise, Abeba was doing the same to me.

Time seemed to stretch as we waited for the signal. When the green signal from the referee appeared, we both made our move.

In the back of my mind, I noted that Abeba held a very slight advantage in speed. While I had to draw my wand, she didn't have to, so she could make the first move.

While I was still in the process of drawing my wand, Abeba shifted her stance, offering a smaller target. She brought a fist to her chest level before thrusting her hand in my direction.

Hyper focused on her every movement. I noticed her thumb and pinky extended, leaving her other three fingers curled inward.

Like most duelists I've come across in this tournament, she murmured her incantation, preventing me from hearing the spell she used. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Uagadou students have different spells than the ones we use at Hogwarts.

I didn't see a spell emerge, which almost certainly meant that the spell she used was some sort of transfiguration. Considering Uagadou's reputation as being the top school in transfiguration, I should expect more of the same.

While all this was happening, I was enacting my own plan. Before my wand had even left the holster, I lunged to my right, leaving the starting circle behind.

Part of my mind notated that the angle of her arms was aimed towards my feet. I knew she was going to try something like that. I'm sure I could have deflected or blocked it, but I choose to dodge and sling something back at her. I wanted Abeba to always be on the defensive.

With that in mind, I turned to a spell that no one can ignore. It was a spell I had learned back in my first year, the Fire-Making charm. Usually, it was used to create a ball of fire, but I learned that the spell was versatile over the years.

"Incendio."

A jet of fire shot out of my wand, extending like a fiery snake. The fire stream slid through midair beyond my side of the ring towards Abeba.

Her dark eyes widened at the stream of fire coming her way. Before the flames reached her, she thrust her hand towards the ground.

A large mass of stone erupted from the ground sending tiny specks of rock and sand flying.

My stream of fire slammed into the rock, scorching the stone black.

I tried to angle the stream of fire around the stone shield, but at that distance, trying to get the fire to move in the direction I wanted was like herding cats.

For the first time in the duel, I was caught off guard. Abeba leaped over the burned and blacked stone straight into my stream of fire. Her ebony skin glistened with some sort of fire-protecting charm.

My moment of shock cost me because she sent another invisible transfiguration spell my way the second she jumped out. But this time, it was aimed at the area where I was about to step.

Before I could stop, I moved right into the area that Abeba had transfigured. I instantly sunk down past my knees in what felt like quicksand. For a brief moment, I thought it was all over.

Since I was stuck and my fire didn't seem to be bothering Abeba, I shut off the flames and turned my attention to freeing myself.

From the white smile Abeba was giving me, I knew she thought she had me. But a plan to free myself presented formed in my mind.

When she sent a red pulsing spell that looked suspiciously like the stunning spell my way, I showed her another skill I had mastered dueling against Anna.

"Protego."

A bluish shield formed around me. Abeda's red spell bounced off the shield, and because I had angled it perfectly, it shot right back from whence it came.

With Abeba distracted, I turned my attention to my situation.

"Reparifarge."

I smiled in victory when the untransfiguration spell worked, and the ground hardened around my legs. I was still stuck, but it was progress.

Abeba seemed determined to make sure I didn't have any more extra time to free myself. She went after me, sending a barrage of spells my way.

Although being unable to move was extremely inconvenient, I had plenty of practice dueling from a spot I refused to leave. I alternated between battering her spells away and sending my own barrage of spells towards her hoping to get a moment of freedom.

I closed my eyes when an idea occurred to me.

"Lumos Maximum."

A light so bright that it would temporarily blind anyone who looked into the light erupted from my wand and hung in midair

Hoping that I caught Abeba off guard, I carefully lowered my wand and aimed it at the ground in between my legs.

Not wanting to blow my legs off, I mentally controlled my power and cast a very mild reductor curse.

"Reducto."

I felt the solid rock trapping my legs shatter into pieces. Hastily, I scrambled up to free myself.

Mentally, I felt my blinding spell wink out of existence. I cracked my eyes open, and a wolfish smile emerged when I saw Abeba groaning and rubbing her eyes.

I didn't envy her; she must have caught the full blast. Not wanting to give her any time to recover, I levitated the pile of rubble I had just freed myself from and sent the small rocks lying across the ring.

Blind and unprepared, the rubble crashed into Abeba's torso, throwing her backward. Landing heavily on her back, Abeba curled up and painfully groaned.

Feeling a little bad, I knocked her unconscious with a stunning spell so she wouldn't feel any more pain.

The referee declared me the winner, and I could hear cheers from the crowd as the two designated healers rushed out to pull Abeba away and treat her injuries.

As I watched them take away Abeba, I knew she would become a great duelist in the future. I hadn't been cornered like that for some time.

Turning to leave, I made my way back to the stands. Once I got back to the Silver Spears, I sat down to recover. Duels that intense could be draining, both physically and mentally.

Time seemed to fly by, and the next thing I knew, I was up again. This time I was up against a witch from Beauxbatons.

Her full name was Livie Delacour. From her last names and looks, I was guessing she was a cousin to Fleur. Something about her was extremely distracting, and it was hard to force myself to look away.

Of course, any good feelings I had were rapidly worn away when I discovered her true passion. Fire. Lots and lots of fire. Stupid ungodly amounts of fire.

Part of me wondered if it was the Veela in her. Veela had a bad reputation for throwing fire at anyone who annoyed them.

She put on a great showing. She almost had me a few times. By the end of the match, my robes were singed, and smoke was wafting from them.

Maybe it was a petty act of revenge for all the fire I had been forced to contend with, but I ended the match by trapping her in a ball of frozen water.

That should teach the little inner arsonist.

I was so pleased with myself I missed the look she gave me as I walked away. Uncle John would later describe it as part-fury, part-attraction, and one hundred percent crazy. But that's a story for another time.

With my fourth victory, I had ensured I would be in the final round. It didn't take long for my final opponent to be announced. It was a wizard named Marcos. He was a student from Castelobruxo, the Brazilian school of magic located deep in the heart of the Amazon Rainforests.

Marcos's black hair was cut short on the side of his head but was longer on the top. His hair was streaked with sweat and draped across his forehead, hanging above his dark protruding eyes. His dark green robes covered most of his bronze skin. We locked eyes for a moment. He seemed to be studying me as intently as I was him.

When we both got to our starting positions, Marcos gave me a nod, offering a token of respect. I did the same. Anyone who could make it this far couldn't be underestimated.

When the referee gave the signal, Marcos and I both drew our wands. From what I could tell, neither of us had an advantage over each other when it came to speed.

Hoping to stop Marcos in his tracks, I started with the Impediment Jinx. If it landed, it would slow Marcos to a crawl. I had once tested it on a bee, and it slowed the bee's wings to a point where I could track them as they slowly moved through the air.

I slashed my wand and mentally intoned, "Impedimenta."

A turquoise light streaked out of my wand like a wild horse.

At the same time, Marcos matched my speed and sent his spell towards me.

My turquoise spell crashed into Marcos's purple spell in the middle of the ring, sending them both crashing into the shield set up around the ring that prevents errant spells from hitting the crowd.

While having two spells collide in midair wasn't all that rare, it didn't happen all the time.

Neither of us paused for a moment, sending spell after spell towards one another. Some of them bounced off one another. Others passed by mere inches from touching. Using the shield charm, I deflected the spells that reached me.

After a couple of minutes, I realized that neither of us was going to be able to seize an easy victory.

Marcos must have come to a similar conclusion because he stopped sending spells towards me and started working on a more complex spell. His wand started weaving multiple movements, and he voiced a long and particularly complex incantation.

A simmering red light popped into existence. For a moment, it hung there motionless, but then I felt something lock onto me. It was a difficult sensation to describe. It was like feeling someone's eyes following your every move.

As if waiting for a signal, the flickering red spell didn't move until Marcos waved his wand at me.

As it drew closer, I summoned my trusty shield charm, fully expecting it to protect me.

At first, everything seemed normal. The spell crashed into my shield and was deflected. But, instead of continuing in the direction that it was deflected in, the spell seemed to recover and started moving back towards me. It had to be some sort of homing spell.

It didn't help that Marcos started taking advantage of me being distracted by his homing spell. He started firing off rapid spells, hoping to overwhelm me, and take me off guard.

I quickly realized that if I stayed in the starting circle, I would be doomed to lose. No matter how good I was, I would become distracted, and then it would be game over. So, I went on the move, with Marcos's stupid homing spell harassing my every move.

Having never been in this situation, inspiration struck me after dodging the stupid homing spells for the third time. I've never tried to use the vanishing spell on another person's spell before, so I had no idea if it would even work. If it worked, it would banish the charm into nothingness.

As the homing spell approached me for the fourth time, I ducked out of the way of another spell Marcos had sent at me and aimed carefully at the annoying flickering red spell.

"Evanesco."

I could feel the veins in my head start throbbing as my magic overpowered the homing charm and vanishing it into non-being.

I bared my teeth in frustration when I saw Marcos release another homing spell.

So, that's how you want to play. Fine, you're not the only one who knows how to play that game.

At a rapid pace, I started weaving spells.

"Vertigo Telugu."

A stunning silver arrow with a sharpened point that gleamed popped into existence. Let's see how you like it when things follow you around and try to poke you full of holes.

Before the arrow could leave to complete its mission, I added a final touch. A homage to the ridiculous name Zack came up with for his dueling strategy.

Hmph.

Angry Birds.

Dumb name.

I've just decided. I'm not calling it that.

I won't.

He can't make me.

"Gemini."

Ten identical arrows appeared next to the gleaming silver arrow, each one with a pointy tip that promised pain.

As the eleven seeking arrows launched themselves towards their target, I nodded in satisfaction. That's what you get for siccing your annoying homing spell on me. Let's see how you like dodging arrows that will follow you around trying to lodge themselves in your insides.

I wasn't able to celebrate long. The second homing spell forced me to dive and roll out of the way. Once I got clear, I vanished that spell into nothingness as well.

While I was taking care of business, Marcos enacted his strategy to deal with the eleven arrows doing their best to poke him full of holes.

A silver light burst out of his wand, striking one of the arrows. Moments after it struck, an invisible wave of energy dragged the other arrows towards it like it was a giant magnet. Once clumped together in a chaotic mass, the arrows fell to the ground, unable to move.

We spent another few minutes throwing spells at one another, trying to knock each other out.

A stitch started forming in my side as I tried to catch my breath. This duel had become one of the longest matches I have ever had.

With all the running and dodging, I was starting to flag and lose energy. Thankfully, Marcos was in the same position. We were both covered in sweat. Neither one of us was willing to go down.

I decided I needed to do something different, so I changed tactics. I threw a few more spells and subtly moved closer to the dividing line. I wanted to be as close as I could before making my next move.

"Incarcerous."

Thick corded ropes snaked out of my wand and slithered to Marcos's side of the ring. At this point, only a dozen feet separated up.

A wolfish grin appeared on my face when the rope successfully wrapped around Marocs's foot. But, before I could successfully tie him up, Marcos enacted a transfiguration spell.

The rope coming from my wand shimmered for a moment before turning into a dark green aggressive anaconda. The snake's tail was on Marcos's side, and the head of the snake was mere inches from my skin.

The anaconda attacked me, opening its mouth wide and sinking a surprisingly curved fangs into my forearm. As the fangs sunk into my flesh, I could feel rows of needle-like fangs dig in and lock into my muscle as the snake tried to wrap itself around me.

Personally, I think I reacted like any reasonable person who had a giant snake latch onto them.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!."

I wasn't proud of how high pitched my voice came out, but I also refused to be embarrassed about it as well.

At that particular moment, I had many thoughts and feelings running through my head.

Ahhh! A snake was trying to eat me.

Death to all snakes.

Maybe I should warn Harry, no one deserves to be chased by a snake.

Death to all snakes.

I mentally dubbed us brother snake survivors. I chose to ignore the fact that one was an ordinary anaconda snake and the other was a magical snake monster that could kill you with its eyes. As far as I'm concerned, it's the same.

Death to all snakes.

The most prevailing thought rummaging around my head that didn't include snakes was a sense of resentment and embarrassment that Marcos turned my spell against me. That was supposed to be my thing. How dare he do that to me.

My embarrassment, combined with the pain, produced what some would later say was an overreaction. But, I am of the firm opinion that anyone with a giant snake attached to their arm is entitled to whatever reaction they deem necessary. Those without snakes attached to their arms can sit down and shut up.

I swapped my wand to my left hand and gave a vicious swipe.

"Diffindo," I screamed.

I can't say whether it was from the shock, fear, pain, having my pride pricked, or some sort of combination of the above. But the severing charm I unleashed was a tad bit overpowered.

The spell went through the snake and followed the path my wand made.

From an outside perspective, it looked like a giant invisible sword took a swipe at the ring. The spell left a twelve-inch deep groove across the ring, almost splitting it in two. Even the shield that protects the crowd wasn't unscathed. It took a half dozen officials to keep it from fracturing.

Thankfully, the path didn't lead to Marcos. If it had, I probably would have been disqualified. It would not have mattered to Marcos. I'm reasonably sure that it would have split his shield in two and kept ongoing.

There was a brief moment where neither Marcos nor I reacted but simply stared at one another. But, when the dust settled, we went right back at one another with the silent agreement that he wouldn't bring any more snakes into our duel, and I would refrain from destroying the dueling arena.

When I had a spare moment, I ripped what was remaining of the snake from my arm. A new red color was added to my blue robes as blood started seeping from the holes the snake bite left in my arm.

The following few minutes dragged on as we switched up strategies. But nothing either of us did gave us a big enough advantage to win.

In the end, it came down to bad luck. Both of us were ending the end of our ropes. Most duels only lasted for a couple of minutes. Our duel was nearing fifteen minutes.

Marcos stepped on a piece of rubble kicked up from the overpowered severing charm I used. His ankle rolled, and he stumbled right into a Full-Body Bind Curse that would have otherwise missed him.

Unable to move and frozen in an awkward position, Marcos tumbled to the ground.

Not expecting that to happen, I was already in the process of slinging another spell. The referee flicked his wand, sending a spell to countermine.

I was in a daze when they announced my victory. I felt cheated, like I didn't deserve to win. My victory rang hollow in my chest.

The referee freed Marcos, and he sat up awkwardly. He looked like he was still in shock over how it ended.

For a brief moment, a frustrated look appeared on Marcos's face. But he forced it away, and he schooled his expression into a more neutral look.

After shaking it off, Marcos pushed himself up and made his way over to me. He stuck his arm out, and I returned the gesture. The crowd cheered when we shook hands.

"That was a great duel," he congratulated.

I nodded in agreement and said, "I only won due to luck."

A grimace flickered onto Marcos's face for a moment before he shook his head. "Don't sell yourself short. Paying attention to where you step is an important part of dueling. The rubble I stumbled on was from a spell you used. Even if it wasn't your intention, you won fair and square."

Turning to walk away, Marcos briefly looked back. "I'll be waiting for you in the finals next year."

As he walked off, I was sure I was looking at a future International Dueling Champion. Marcos's dueling skills were almost perfect. I can't imagine the number of hours he must have put in to bring his skills to that level. I do not doubt that one day he will find his way to the top.

As for me, I made my way to the healing station to take care of my arm. I needed to get rid of the two bloody holes the snake left behind. Mum was sure to blow a gasket at the sight of all my blood.

After the healer forced a potion down my throat, he traced the fang marks with his wand muttering an incantation. As the holes closed up, I leaned back and relaxed. It was all over now. I had won.