25 Chapter 24: The Duel

Harry didn't make a move to counter Malfoy's spell. This spell was already familiar to him, and he knew how effective it would be against him.

It would do nothing.

When the black smoke surrounded him, it felt like the ring on his finger sent a pulse through his body, making the smoke disappear even quicker than it appeared. It wasn't just legilimency the Arcanium Ring would protect him from, but also most offensive magic that would affect his mind, like the spell Malfoy just cast at him. There was a reason the price of the ring was so prohibitive.

"What was that, Malfoy?" Harry asked with a confused expression as he rubbed the ring with his thumb, "Are we testing spells during a duel now? Then, I guess it's only fair if I try it too."'

"Tenebris Nectere!" Dark shadows rushed out of Harry's wand and tried to surround Malfoy from all sides.

"Lumos!"

Harry raised an eyebrow at Malfoy, not expecting him to know how to counter it. It was an obscure spell, but one that was obscure due to how easily it could be countered. Maybe Zabini was right when he said Malfoy got himself a new tutor and he didn't just learn spells because they seemed 'wicked.'

"I thought that would work," Harry took slow steps toward Malfoy, "I guess I still need more practice."

Honestly, he was disappointed with Malfoy's starting performance. Nothing had changed from the time they last fought in their third year. More barking than biting from the boy, like always.

The recently deceased Alex had done far better, but maybe it wasn't fair for him to compare Malfoy to a much older wizard. Again, he couldn't help but be offended that someone this terrible in dueling kept challenging him.

"Fine!" Malfoy puffed himself up, "I'll stop playing around!"

Harry shot him an unimpressed look before taking stock of the expressions of key people in the crowd. The ones he suspected were behind Malfoy throwing himself into this foolishness.

Harry casually redirected a spell to the ceiling, letting the barrier around the stage absorb it. With another sweep of his wand, a shimmering, translucent shield formed in front of him to block the barrage of spells that Malfoy threw at him.

A couple of older students were sitting in the center of a group of students, pretending like they were in their own fiefs. One even had the gall to smile at Harry when she saw him looking and lifted a butter beer as if to toast him.

There was nothing Harry would have loved to do more than smash that bottle across the smug cunt's face at that moment. He was sure that she knew that, which was why she was surprised when she got a genuine smile in return.

Harry put his focus back on the so-called 'duel' with an amused look, enraging Malfoy even more. It wasn't his fault that Fleur popped up in his mind when using the word 'cunt' to describe the girl. He guessed his… girlfriend? Obsessive stalker? Whatever Fleur was, she was right when she said Englishmen use that word.

"You're dead! You get that, Potter? You're dead before the year is over! My father is-"

"DRACO!"

Harry didn't have to look at who stopped Malfoy from continuing. He recognized that voice.

Caspian Warrington. A wizard that constantly tries to show everyone that he is more Slytherin than Slytherin himself. He was also an excellent fighter. Harry would be shocked to learn he hadn't joined the Death Eater the second he graduated.

"I was going to leave you intact," Malfoy bluffed, "… I guess it's only fitting that I take your dignity away from you right now. It would be practice when you tell the truth about your parents."

Harry's smile slipped when Malfoy literally spit in disgust at the mention of his parents. Somehow that was worse than calling them a mudblood or traitor in his eyes. He watched Malfoy move his mouth, assuredly spewing more bluster, not that Harry paid it any attention.

This was the right time to shut this farce down. But the question was whether Harry wanted to do so in front of so many people. Fleur had the protection of her family behind her to act so boldly, but Harry was alone.

Instead of only the people at the top of the 'hierarchy' knowing about the lengths he would go to get his way, the majority of House Slytherin would witness it firsthand. Harry watched Malfoy try and fail to break his simple shield, wondering if the blonde ponce would think all this was worth it after the duel was finished.

Harry's hand was forced when the isolation seemed inevitable. Fear would be his preferred choice if being amicable wasn't an option. After all, both would work for the purpose of his business.

Harry flicked his wand to dispel the shield, unable to resist being a showman one last time before ending it. He started to take one purposeful step after another, making it seem like nothing Malfoy did could stop him.

Honestly, it was far more challenging than Harry made it look. Each spell Malfoy cast at him had to be perfectly countered to redirect with his wand. Still, all that effort was worth it when Malfoy grew increasingly desperate. Plus, it let the ones that thought too highly of themselves know that he wasn't ignorant of the spells they loved to throw around.

"Did you know what I was doing the past day, Malfoy?" Harry asked like he was in a regular conversation.

"All I care about is what you'll do tomorrow in the Great Hall, Potter! BOMBARDA!"

Harry swept his wand up to reflect the debris kicked up by the blasting curse right back at Malfoy.

"Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. You see, while you were obsessing over me, I was on a date with an… interesting witch. It made me wonder, with life outside of Hogwarts so appealing, why do I bother acting like I care for the rules within this castle? I have no doubt that if I leave right now, I will get by just fine."

When Malfoy tried to interrupt, Harry pointed his wand at him and calmly said, "Shut it."

Malfoy's jaw snapped shut so hard that Harry was sure everyone could hear the painful clack of his teeth. The improvised spell seemed to make Malfoy clench his teeth harder and harder even though it was already closed. While it wasn't planned, Harry was happy to let it go on, thinking the squeal of pain to be a nice touch.

"So," Harry continued, "I came back with a new outlook in life. You see, Malfoy, when you irritated me in the past, I played some jokes that you took far too seriously. I thought you were in on it, to be honest. But you pushed me too far with what you're trying this year."

Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy's arms when he tried to use his wand. "Afflicto."

"I was going to let you go. I understood your plight of being too inbred to know better," Harry spoke over Malfoy's muffled screams after the bones in his arms were shattered, "But you are a pest. You keep coming back, no matter what I do to warn you."

"See, I thought about it," Harry monologued, realizing why some people loved to do it so often. It was delightful! "And I realized I had been too lenient with you. I let you walk around, thinking you had some kind of power over me, thinking that you could challenge me to a duel and get away with it."

"Potter! Enough, he lost!"

Harry cast a sticking charm to keep Malfoy from doing anything stupid. He turned his back to the sobbing ponce, the ultimate disrespect in a magical duel.

"He lost?" Harry asked with confusion and glanced at Malfoy, "Is Warrington right, Malfoy? Did you accept defeat?"

Harry rubbed his ears when Malfoy mumbled something through his closed mouth. "I couldn't hear, but I can guess what you said. I respect that in a wizard, wanting to go on even if it's hopeless."

Another cruel rule that Salazar Slytherin established. Both duelists must agree to end the duel if they were conscious.

When Harry puts his attention back on Malfoy, Warrington threatened him again, "The barrier won't protect you forever, Potter! When it goes down, you'll have to deal with me!"

"I see," Harry nodded before pointing his wand at Malfoy's legs. "Afflicto."

"Does that answer your question?" Harry asked Warrington over the renewed muffled screams from Malfoy. He almost felt guilty when he saw the third year that was supposed to take pictures with tears in his eyes, but he blocked it out of his mind. This was necessary, not for Malfoy himself, but for the ones on the fence. To tell them that he wasn't a pushover.

"Right, where was I?" Harry tapped his chin with his wand, "Hm, it was something about me being fed up… No matter. I suppose you should have learned your lesson at this point."

Harry took away the spell making Malfoy silent, immediately hearing vitriol thrown at him.

"FILTHY HALFBLOOD! MY FATHER WILL RIP YOUR MAGI-"

Harry forced Malfoy's mouth shut again, this time clearly hearing teeth breaking as blood trickled out the corner of his lips.

"When I let you speak, I want to hear an apology. Only then will I accept your loss. Nod if you understand."

After Malfoy eventually nodded with a glare that would have killed a basilisk, Harry removed the spell again. He could hear the crowd murmur when broken teeth fell out of Malfoy's mouth, along with plenty of blood that nicely decorated the ponce's white shirt.

"… Sorry... I forfeit." It was the world's most pathetic apology, and it was barely understandable with Malfoy's horror of a mouth, but in the pin-drop silence, but was enough for Harry.

"Very well," Harry nodded in satisfaction, "Before I accept Malfoy's forfeit, I will be happy to welcome more challengers. Let it be known that I will accept anyone who casts a spell at me automatically."

Harry smiled at the small group planning to take action once he ended the duel with Malfoy. After the first spell hit him, he would be protected from the rest while Harry and his attacker would discuss terms. Salazar Slytherin was a cruel bastard, but he was an intelligent bastard that knew talents might be ganged up on.

"I accept your loss, Malfoy."

The stage started to sink back into the floor, and the barrier separating Harry and Malfoy disappeared. Still, nobody made a move as they warily watched Harry while giving looks of pity to Malfoy.

"Heal me! Quickly!" Draco screamed as he started to walk to his room.

"If anyone dares to help him, I'll put them in a worse condition than that worthless cunt," Harry's smile dropped as he shot Malfoy's so-called friends a glare, making them stop in their tracks.

Harry frowned when Malfoy's wailing grew louder as he continued to walk on his broken legs, mangling them even further. "Silencio."

"There, much better, isn't it?" Harry asked as if he hadn't given most people a traumatic experience.

"… Why did you have to make him walk?"

Harry wasn't sure who this girl was, but she was one of the younger years that he didn't have a recollection of. That meant she wasn't too important. Still, he patted her trembling head and said, "You'll learn when you're older that deals must be completed. Malfoy wouldn't take pity on me and free me of my punishment if I had lost. This is only fair, isn't it?"

Harry smiled as he walked through the parting crowd and sat in his usual seat, unabashedly scanning the thinning gathering of his housemates. If allowed, he would have saved this memory in a Pensieve to show Fleur, showing her that she wasn't the only one capable of being brutal.

He smirked at that thought and reclined in the soft chair. With his thumb rubbing his ring, his mind was pulled back to Dumbledore. No matter how high and mighty he felt among the students, Harry knew he was nothing to the ones who held true power.

No matter how suspicious, one of those wizards blatantly offered his knowledge, something many would beggar themselves for and still fail to receive. And Harry had a feeling that Dumbledore made that offer while knowing precisely what he did to that boy, Ashwood.

With his rather concerning future with the Dark Lord's followers eyeing him, Harry was willing to take some risks that would be unwise. He wouldn't sit in Dumbledore's office, but perhaps it was time to spend more time with Longbottom to get the Headmaster's attention.

Of course, it would have to be discreet to keep Umbridge happy… or maybe he could twist it as some sort of undercover assignment he willingly took up to get her information. She was certainly dull enough to believe that.

"Potter, let's talk."

Harry didn't look away from Warrington's group as he answered Greengrass. "We certainly need to. If it's about the auction, I have nothing for you."

"I already assumed so with how downtrodden Zabini is. That's not it. It's about… you know."

Harry finally looked at Greengrass, seeing her looking impeccable as always. Still, he was surprised to see a bit of wariness in her eyes.

"Muffliato."

"That's funny," Harry said flatly, "Because I'm not in the mood to talk about the Room. Let's talk about your sister, Davis."

"What?" Daphne's tone turned ice-cold.

"I have reason to suspect Davis has loose lips, Greengrass. I wouldn't be giving you this warning if she wasn't your sister. We won't have any dealings until you either prove me wrong or you set her straight."

Harry met Greengrass's glare with his own until she stood up and stormed off toward Davis before pulling her toward their rooms. It wasn't the best idea to anger one of the few allies he had, but he wouldn't compromise on secrecy.

He looked around the common room one last time before heading to his room himself. Malfoy had completed his punishment, and there was no longer a reason to waste his time here.