Chapter 41: Bombarda!
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Sirius was crying silently, and for the first time Aries did not care.
He didn't know why it meant so much to him, but he was now determined to rip Dumbledore's manipulative claws off his uncle, even if he had to kill the old bastard and take the Elder Wand from his cold dead fingers himself.
They reached a small door that Aries realized would open into the stadium.
He wore similar robes from the First Task, and no doubt the specific charm he had placed on them last year might come in handy if his suspicions of the task were correct.
"Look Aries," Sirius said now that he was recovered.
"It's not cheating anymore but you're about to do a free-for-all duel. Only one winner. Thomas and Cedric have been working on some plan. I don't know if Fleur is involved but she might be. It's probably why she was distracting you in the tent."
"Don't tell James I told you this but Thomas can have a quick temper, and if he thinks Cedric deceived him you might be able to turn the tables. You know, even the playing field."
"Why Sirius, that is rather Slytherin of you." Aries said approvingly.
"I may not act like it all the time, but I'm still a Black dear nephew." They shook hands warmly. "Now kick some ass and win the damned thing."
….
The coliseum had changed somewhat since the First Task. Rocks still jutted out of the ground but for the most part the area was flat.
Oh, and there was snow covering every inch of the coliseum. Nearly five inches deep. It crunched under his feet, and the element of surprise would be removed in this condition.
The four champions stood like the four points of a compass. He saw Thomas' attempt at a discreet nod towards Diggory, and Fleur was ignoring them both far too intentionally for it to be innocent.
Aries was tempted to take on the three of them at once, but while he had a good feeling he could defeat them, it was an unnecessary risk.
No, he needed to act like the Heir of Slytherin, just as Salazar had commanded. A flick of his wrist and an invisible spell made its way over to Thomas.
"Hello Potter." Thomas nearly jumped at the other side of the stadium upon hearing Aries' voice.
"Don't move like that! I cast a spell that makes it so we can hear each other for now. Listen closely and only give a slight nod or shake of your head." Bagman was introducing the champions and the task.
He only had so much time. "Sirius didn't get a chance to tell you and your dad didn't believe him. You know how they're fighting right now. Anyway, he said that Cedric is planning on turning against you."
"Fleur is going to attack me as planned and then he's going to take you out. We're first and second in the table, so they're hoping to take over us." He could see the anger in Thomas from here and smirked.
"I'll shoot a blasting hex at Cedric to give you a shot at some element of surprise, then I'll take out Fleur. After that it's a free-for-all. Good luck Potter."
Once Thomas gave him a nod, he cancelled the spell. Everything was set and now their duel in the snow would begin.
"Lastly," Bagman was saying. "This tournament is set by the old laws. As such the only spells off limits are the Unforgivables. To eliminate an opponent, they must either surrender or be incapacitated."
"No penalties will be given should a champion die, though killing your fellow competitor is deeply frowned upon. Good luck champions and let the Second Task of the 1994 Tri-Wizard Tournament begin!" A canon sounded and chaos erupted.
"Bombarda!" The blasting hex exploded the rock next to Diggory just as Thomas' stunner passed by him.
Aries paid them no mind and sent a bone-breaking curse towards Fleur.
She spun out of the way and threw a ball of fire at him. His right hand extended, catching the ball of fire, and as he closed his fist the fire was absorbed into his palm.
"You must not have been paying attention with the dragons, or you did not believe the tales." Aries said in French.
"I can bend dragon fire. Yours is nothing more than a nuisance." At the last word he threw his hand forward and the fire ball was blasted back at her.
Her eyes widened in surprise, as the fireball had doubled in intensity, and leaped out the way.
She barely dodged another bone breaker before a blasting hex made him find cover.
Aries had no intention of going back and forth with the veela, so he returned a blasting hex of his own, exploding the rock she was hiding behind.
He brandished his wand straight into the air.
"Tempestas frigus!" The sky above them suddenly darkened and thunder rumbled.
The air felt electric and a cold rain started to fall. It turned to sleet before it hit the ground and lightning struck ever so often in the coliseum.
Aries had researched veela thoroughly since the Weighing of the Wands.
Unlike the Sirens of Greek Mythology, veela have a difficulty dealing with water and extreme cold, and the temperature in the coliseum was dropping rapidly.
His robes magically provided more warmth than he could ever need, but the mobile robes of the French champion did little to comfort her, and her warming charms were having no effect, much to her disadvantage.
Fleur started to cast fire frantically, hoping to heat up the area around her, but between her flame and extreme cold of the storm it only turned the snow into ice cold water.
Aries was aware that this could kill the girl and had to move quickly to eliminate his opponent before she died.
A bone breaker shattered her leg and stunner took her in the chest. One of the aurors levitated her body away while Aries took a seat on a rock to watch Potter and Diggory.
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