57 Grimoire

After returning to the hotel, Draco didn't think of taking a break. Instead, after handing over the Philosopher's Stone to Missy and carefully instructing her on where to place it for safe-keeping, the blond boy went off to find Abraxas.

Although the trip to Hogwarts seemed to be rather long, in fact, it only took a few hours, so when Draco knocked on his grandfather's door, the time was only just approaching noon.

"Grandfather, I want to discuss with you tomorrow's strategy," the young Slytherin explained his purpose as he settled down on an ornate couch after he was let into the room.

Abraxas sat down on the sofa which stood opposite from Draco. Hearing his grandson's reason for coming, he let out an involuntary smile.

"You are worried about that vampire boy?" the older man asked bluntly. "That boy… what's his name?... anyway, he was reprimanded by the competition's organizers for using the Blood-heating curse on his opponent. While Juniors' Championship doesn't restrict the usage of different kinds of magic because children whose magical cores haven't formed completely cannot use spells that are irreversible, magic that targets internal organs is, somewhat, frowned upon. That boy will have to tone it down if he wants to win the competition without being suspended."

Draco could somewhat understand the reasoning, but he still couldn't help frowning. Herbert Bludd – that was his next opponent's name – had a good speed and reflexes. From the other boy's duels, it seemed that he preferred to observe his opponents and deal with them by using one or two spells at the right moment – thus ending the duel quickly.

However, Abraxas didn't seem to be worried and his blue eyes held some mischief as he opened his mouth to say:

"My most favorite grandson, don't be worried! Let me tell you the best strategy to use on vampires and their spawn – that boy, whatever his name is – won't know what hit him!"

The laugh that followed the sentence would have sounded out-of-place to the outsiders, however, Draco found it to be very reassuring. The blond boy leaned in and earnestly listened to the wisdom that his grandfather imparted.

---

The next day, Draco and three other competitors once again stood upon the platform surrounded by hundreds of spectators and listened to the announcer's words.

"Welcome to the Semi-Finals of the Juniors' Championship! Today's duels will decide who amongst the four young duelers will proceed to the Finals and have a chance at becoming this year's Winter Champion! Give loud applause to these young gentlemen and the lady!"

The stands thundered with cheers and claps – the noise was so loud that even muggle-repelling wards had a hard time containing the sound from the oblivious ears of the common folk.

Finally, the cheers died down a bit and the announcer gestured with his hand towards the four children:

"The first duel will be between Anastasia Vasilieva from Koldovstoretz and Obadiah Cox from Ilvermorny!"

Draco and his next opponent, Herbert Bludd, left the platform to sit in the participants' area. It didn't take long for the first duel to begin.

Anastasia didn't take out her wand, instead, a large book encrusted in gold and painted with hardly-discernible pictures appeared in her hands.

It was a Grimoire.

It seemed that this was her trump card which she had been unwilling to take out while facing the lesser opponents.

Draco leaned in with interest – he had never seen a duel when one of the participants was using a Grimoire.

In fact, the book had its advantages and disadvantages. The spells and their arithmantic equivalents had to be recorded on Grimoire's pages with special ink while chanting special spells. To use the magic that was engraved into the Grimoire, one had to open the specified page and place one's hand on it while concentrating magical energy into the palm.

It was actually rather cumbersome – if a witch or a wizard wanted to use the Grimoire effectively, they had to know on which page each spell was recorded, and which arithmantic formula corresponded to it.

In a battle, quickly discerning between different equations was really hard and recording the name of each spell was impossible. The names were usually spelled in Latin and didn't, in any way, add to the equations (sometimes, writing it down could even disturb the magic). Because each page was enchanted to record only one specific spell, it could only hold equations – never any names.

Besides that, each spell on each page could only be used a few times throughout the duel – it had to be recharged with magic after a while. As such, one also couldn't stand in one place with one open page while shooting the spells continuously.

Besides, if the caster doesn't notice when the magic in a page is all used up and tries to cast the spell while expecting something to happen, and nothing does - the quick defeat is almost guaranteed!

However, aside from those few disadvantages, the Grimoires were preferred by many witches and wizards. First of all, they didn't consume as much magic when casting the same spell with Grimoire compared to doing so with a wand. Secondly, one didn't have to remember wand gestures and corresponding incantations – just open the book to the correct page and concentrate magic into the palm, and the spell is ready!

After all, just how many people lost duels because of mispronounced spells or incorrect wand gestures? Doing one action every time was, surely, a lot easier.

And finally, the Grimoire allowed the use of multiple spells at the same time.

Although there existed a few shields which could be cast with a wand and would hold up even when the caster wasn't concentrating on maintaining them, those shields consumed a lot of magic and were at a very high level. Because of that, defending spells were usually maintained only for a short period, and if one wanted to attack - they had to compromise their defense. As such, even Aurors usually dueled in pairs – one was responsible for defending, while another - for attacking.

But with Grimoire - it was no problem to maintain the shield while attacking the opponent at the same time. The shield would be there until the spell's magic was completely drained from the Grimoire's page – one could usually cast around five to eight attacking spells before the shield went down.

With a wand, a normal shield could only hold up to three spells at its best (depending on the magic with which the opponent attacked). As such, Grimoires held a clear advantage over wands in this aspect, and Draco was really interested in seeing how it worked in practice.

After the duel between Obadiah and Anastasia began, the Russian girl's palm hovered over a page and a shield was formed. A moment later, it was already reflecting Obadiah's first spell at the caster.

Anastasia didn't wait for the other dueler to attack her again – she released the Grimoire, making it hover in the air at a comfortable level, and quickly turned to another page, sending another spell at her opponent. Then another page – and another spell.

However, no matter how quickly she turned pages and cast magic, Obadiah was never at disadvantage – he returned each spell with unbelievable vigor while his eyes always stayed on Anastasia and observed her for any weaknesses. It was clear that Ilvermorny's House of Warriors wasn't called as such just for decoration – the American boy excelled in battle.

But, it had to be said that the Grimoire's advantage quickly began to show itself. After ten minutes of intense spell-exchange and a few interesting developments - such as when Obadiah almost slipped on ice which Anastasia cast (but this actually let him avoid her next hex), or when the Russian girl miscalculated the endurance of her shield and it let through Obadiah's bone-breaking curse which she only narrowly avoided – the duel seemed to be coming to an end.

The American boy's breathing was becoming more laborous with every movement, while Anastasia still seemed to be completely at ease – her spells didn't consume a lot of magic, and her continuous usage of various shields allowed her to move less to dodge the incoming magic.

This advantage gradually revealed itself and, finally, Anastasia cast a chain of spells which Obadiah couldn't quite dodge with his faltering concentration. The boy dropped to the ground and the duel ended with the previous year's winner entering the Finals once again.

Under the crowd's loud applause, Anastasia closed her Grimoire and gracefully curtsied to the spectators with a bright smile. The Russian girl also didn't forget her opponent – while maintaining the same smile, she gracefully approached Obadiah and whispered a few words to him which made the boy blush slightly.

Finally, both of them stepped down from the platform. From the way they walked together, it didn't seem as though Obadiah held any grudges towards Anastasia because of his defeat.

Draco stood up and got ready to go on the platform for his duel. The announcer shouted out that there will be a ten-minute break, so the blond boy had some time to review his strategy for the coming duel. However, his thoughts were interrupted before he could even start forming them in his head.

"I wish you luck in the next duel, and hope to see you tomorrow," said Anastasia as she approached Draco and even winked at him playfully. "As a gentleman, you cannot disappoint a lady's expectations, right?"

Draco smiled at her and shook his head with wonder. "As a lady, you really leave me speechless quite often – don't you think that it's a bit unreasonable?"

The girl's eyes sparkled with laughter as she replied: "Shouldn't a lady leave those gentlemen speechless with her wits and beauty? Otherwise, won't you all be bored to death? I heard that once a man becomes uninterested, he goes to cheat on his wife with other women. Don't you think that it's too pitiful?"

Draco didn't know how to reply – this girl was only thirteen, close to fourteen, yet she already had such thoughts… Girls really matured faster than boys!

The young Slytherin coughed lightly into his fist and changed the topic: "That was an interesting duel to watch – congratulations on the win!"

Anastasia gracefully curtsied in thanks and turned around to leave, not forgetting to say a parting remark over her shoulder: "Thanks! Just make sure that you also win, otherwise, I will really be too disappointed!"

Draco silently watched as she went to her seat – he couldn't grasp that girl at all. One moment, she was bright and cheerful, sometimes even playful to the point where one didn't know what to say. Another moment, she was looking at him coldly as though he was her worst enemy.

Draco began to doubt himself – at that time, maybe she wasn't looking at him but thinking about something else, and her gaze just happened to be turned in his direction? Even if she was somehow related to the Dark Lord (be it family relation or something else) – he hadn't done anything to her so she couldn't bear a grudge on him, right?

The blond boy sighed and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts – this wasn't the time or place to think about these complicated matters if he wanted to win the next duel. It was better to concentrate on the competition.

However, just as Draco turned around, he was startled by another competitor who came to greet him. Obadiah silently moved towards the young Slytherin and was about to tap his shoulder when the latter turned around and almost bumped his nose into the American boy's chest.

Draco reflexively took a step back and looked at his previous opponent.

"Ah, it was a good duel," he said slightly awkwardly to the other boy, who was now out of the competition.

"Yes, thank you. Although I am disappointed that I lost, it was a good duel and my opponent did deserve her win," replied Obadiah with a slightly rueful smile. "But I came to talk to you for another reason."

Draco raised his eyebrow and waited. He couldn't find a reason as to why the older boy initiated the conversation – they wouldn't meet as opponents this year, and it wasn't the right time to form friendships or connections with each other. After all, another duel was about to begin.

"I came to warn you – you haven't participated in the American Summer Championship, so you won't know… That Herbert Bludd – be wary of him." Obadiah unexpectedly said.

"That time, with the Greek boy, it was only a Blood-heating curse, however, when he participated in the Summer Tournament, he actually cast a Blood-removing curse and the opponent almost died as a result. If not for the Healers' quick help… The opponent still hasn't completely recovered – you know that blood is important to us, wizards, as it is full of magic - especially at the age when our magical core is still not fully formed. Herbert seems to like the spells which target blood in some way."

"Thank you for your warning," Draco replied after a moment of silence. He hadn't known about the incident that Obadiah mentioned, however, he wasn't too worried. "I will make sure to be alert for any such curses coming my way… By the way, I hope we can talk more after the duel – I am really curious about Ilvermorny and-"

Draco's words were interrupted by the announcer who stepped on the platform and invited the next duelers to come up. The blond boy apologetically smiled in Obadiah's direction and hurried to the arena.

It was time for his duel to begin.