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They moved at the same time, both calling out in unison, "Depulso!"
The two waves of force crashed into each other in the center. Neither duelist stopped there. Harry followed it up with a shield breaker—which turned out to be useless since she didn't block the Depulso—and was about to chain in an Expelliarmus, when Fleur's own spell came just a second behind his. He dodged to the side and sent a Glacius aimed low. Fleur had to jump back to dodge the spell, and her entire half of the stage froze over in thick ice.
The crowd cheered at the first exchange.
Fleur slipped briefly, but Harry didn't let the moment pass and transfigured a swarm of crows. "Avis Corvi! Oppugno!" The swarm cawed angrily and dove to attack Fleur while her footing was shifty, but she managed to put up a Protego. However, the spell didn't form around her completely and a bird managed to get in from behind, scratching angrily at her back. Fleur cried out in pain as the talons dug in. The shield dropped and the rest of the birds dove in to attack.
Harry immediately dispelled the crows before they could do any more damage.
"Point to Potter!" Lazard called from the side. The crowd exploded in cheers. "Return to starting positions and reset!"
Lazard waved his wand and vanished the ice on Fleur's side.
Fleur straightened, wand tight in her grip, and flicked a strand of hair from her face. Her expression hardened.
When the next round began, they once again began exchanging spells. Harry was slowly pushing her back. He had tried another Glacius, but this time she shot a transfigured marble to intercept. The marble froze over in a thick casing of ice, but otherwise the stage was left unfrozen.
After another few moments of back and forth, Fleur shot a Glacius of her own, aimed at Harry's feet.
Instead of jumping backwards to dodge the spell, he leapt forward and caught the spell with the tip of his wand and redirected it away from the stage. He didn't want to lose his footing, and taking the time to dispel it would only give Fleur an opening to attack.
"Merlin's beard!" Canards, the radio announcer, shouted into the microphone. "Did you see that? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Potter just batted aside Delacour's Glacius! What's going on?"
"He just pulled off the wand-catching technique!" Judge Arjun explained excitedly. "That's a high-level technique that's usually only seen in the adult circuits! This is incredible!"
"Magnifique!" Judge Robards murmured.
Still, the rushed maneuver left him off balance anyway, and Fleur didn't waste it.
Her next spells came fast, one after another, with several shield breakers and Depulsos. She was chaining them together now, pushing him to block each one in succession, with his shield breaking with each ruptura, but each one kept him off balance until a Depulso managed to break through Harry's damaged shield and sent him tumbling back.
"Point to Delacour!" Lazard gasped. It was the first time in the entire tournament that Harry had been hit.
The French crowd cheered, some standing to clap.
Harry smiled wryly. She earned that one. He had gotten cocky and overreached.
"For the first time in the entire tournament, Harry Potter has taken a hit!" Canards was nearly jumping in his seat with excitement. "Looks like Potter isn't untouchable after all!"
"This just goes to show how skilled Miss Delacour truly is. She's the only one that was able to touch him," Madam Fahmy noted.
"And if Mr. Potter is to be believed, Miss Delacour's allure had nothing to do with it. It was entirely from her skill alone. This serves a lot to disprove all of the allegations against her," Judge Gaseling said.
At the start of the next match, neither Harry nor Fleur cast any spells at the moment. They warily eyed each other, waiting for the other to move. Fleur's focus was sharp, and the allure intensified. It pressed hard at the edges of his mind, trying to sway him, but he ignored it.
"Stupefy!" Harry used that moment to attack.
She dodged around it. "Stupefy!" she shouted, frustration in her tone.
Harry caught the beam on his wand tip and even managed to flick it back at her. She was caught off guard and hastily leapt to the side.
He followed through before she could reset. "Expulso!"
She dodged the other way, so she didn't go off the edge, but not quick enough. The edge of the blast caught her shoulder, sending her rolling to the ground.
"Point to Potter! Two to one!"
The sound of the crowd swelled again. Fleur steadied herself, breathing hard. Her eyes locked onto his, fierce and unyielding.
Harry raised his wand again, waiting for her move.
She cast three quick spells. Harry parried them cleanly.
"Protego!" He caught the fourth blast, twisted his wrist, and sent a counterattack forward in the same motion. "Depulso!"
The spell hit low, sweeping her feet out from under her. She hit the floor hard and slid, wand skidding a few inches away before she snatched it back.
"Three points to Potter! Match concluded!"
The crowd erupted in noise. Cheers, applause, camera flashes. Mr. Lazard waved his wand to amplify the scoreboard above the stage, showing the final tally, 3–1.
Harry lowered his wand and let out a slow breath. His arm was sore, his ears still ringing, but it was done.
Fleur stood up, brushed off her robes, and approached him. Her chin was high, her expression tight. She stopped at her starting position and gave a sharp, formal bow.
Harry returned it respectfully.
"You fought well. Congratulations" she said, her voice clipped but even.
"So did you," Harry said.
Her eyes flicked up to his. He could see a bit of frustration and wounded pride, but there was a bit of respect in there.
Then she turned and walked off the stage. The Delacours rose immediately from the stands to meet her.
Harry watched them go for a moment, then turned as Mr. Lazard's voice boomed across the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen! Your U-15 Dueling Champion: Harry Potter!"
The roar that followed was deafening.
Harry gave a single, small wave to the crowd before stepping down from the platform to meet with his family.
Sirius rushed forward and lifted Harry up into the air, spinning. "Knew you'd pull it off!" he said, grinning excitedly. "Oh, if James could see you now!"
He set Harry back down and hugged him.
"I was hoping to not get hit," Harry muttered, rubbing the spot on his ribs where Fleur's spell had clipped him.
"That's what makes it interesting," Sirius said.
Flitwick hurried up, his face bright with pride. "Magnificent work, Harry! Magnificent! A great job throwing her spell back at her! Not many can hold onto a spell long enough to throw it back where it came from."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said, smiling widely. He was quite proud of that moment too.
Hermione rushed forward next, still half-bouncing from excitement. "You did it! You actually did it! That was incredible!"
Harry shrugged lightly. "It's over now."
Arcturus's cane struck the floor twice as he approached. "You handled yourself well," he said simply. "I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, Grandfather."
Reporters were already spilling onto the edge of the floor, shouting questions and snapping photos. Lazard was trying, and failing, to herd them back.
Harry glanced once toward the other side of the stage. Fleur and her family were leaving through a side corridor. She didn't look back.
He exhaled slowly, feeling the noise and heat of the arena fade into the background.
It was finally over.
~~ ITW,H ~~
Well, the tournament itself was over, but the award ceremony—where he got a trophy and a small sum of 100 galleons—and the after-tournament questioning dragged on until evening. By the time they reached the street, the crowd had thinned and the afternoon sun had already dipped behind the rooftops. The posters, the cheering, the chaos, it all felt distant now in a strange, surreal moment.
"Back to Britain tomorrow," Ted said as they crossed the square.
Harry nodded. "Yeah. It'll be good to be back home again."
Sirius threw an arm around his shoulders. "You earned a quiet week before Hogwarts starts up again. Don't even think about touching a wand until then."
Harry laughed. "No promises."
They walked on together toward the hotel, the noise of the tournament fading completely behind them.