Somewhere Safe - Chapter 38

There were a few duels before his next match. Aureum, Remmy to her friends, flopped back into her seat with a glare on her face. The Round Robin setup meant that eventually, he would have to duel with all three of the girls. Delphi had faced her opponent directly after Harry and Padma went a couple of spots after. A few of the others on the School Team filled out the ranks without it getting too crowded. The time limit was set at ten minutes, but there had yet to be one that went beyond five.

"Fun time?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Some people just can't take a hint." Remmy rolled her eyes.

Harry cocked his head to the side.

"Longbottom." Remmy replied. "The one you dueled. There is a reason she isn't on the team."

"She's sweet." Padma spoke up.

"I'm not saying she isn't." Remmy grumbled. "She just isn't…" She waved her hand. "You know?"

"No." Harry chuckled.

"Mister Potter." Professor Flitwick called before the conversation could continue. "You are up."

Harry tried not to grin like a maniac as he made his way to the platform. Logically, he knew that this Draco was not the same as the one he had grown up with. Still, he wasn't going to give this one a pass. From what he had heard in passing, he was still a jerk.

Draco glared daggers at him as he took his spot on the platform. The blond had removed his robes and currently wore an outfit that was closer to a muggle suit rather than athletic gear. Harry wondered if the clothes were charmed or something.

"Dueling on Red, Harry Potter." Professor Riddle announced.

The crowd cheered just as loud as the first time.

"Dueling on Blue, Draco Malfoy." Professor Riddle continued.

Another pause for cheers, mostly from Slytherin. Though they were more subdued. Harry did notice that Pansy wasn't one of them. That was interesting.

"This is a Class Two Duel." Professor Riddle explained. "Victory through disarming, knocking your opponent off the platform, or yielding."

"Bow to your opponent." Professor Riddle instructed.

They did.

"Ready? Begin!" Professor Riddle yelled.

Draco raised a wall of stone directly in front of him. Chunks of the barrier shot toward Harry at random. The sizes, angles, and tempo varied to an impressive degree. Even the slower pieces moved at a good speed. It kept Harry on the defensive. Draco must have been able to see through the stone because the aim was on point. Each opponent he had faced so far had their own style, but he had noticed that the majority of them stuck to some aspect of elemental magic. Draco stuck to transfiguration and charms so far, which put Harry on guard.

Honestly, he expected Draco to stick to his namesake and use fire.

The chunks of stone shattered against his shield and built up a layer of grit on the platform in from on him. Harry spared a quick glance to see the dust start to shift. Slowly, it began to take the shape of a pair of arms. The build up was meticulous and surprisingly subtle when combined with the physical aspect of the plan. Harry had to focus on blocking the direct assault while trying to outmaneuver the arms. A quick look over his shoulder showed there was another set behind him as well.

"Clever." Harry muttered.

Harry dropped to his knees. He grabbed one of the arms in front of him and pulled. It extended upward like a thread being tugged from a frayed piece of fabric. He slashed his wand along the platform to sever the extended limb. A simple bit of transfiguration changed the stone to mud. He spun the mud-whip around him, shattering the remaining arms and assimilating them into the whip.

Draco stopped the assault as Harry began to swat the stones away. The remains of the wall crumbled into gravel. He glared at Harry and gave him a small nod. Harry snapped the mud-whip out toward the blond wizard. Draco dodged to the side. His wand came up and connected to the end of the whip, pulling it taught.

The two wrestled with it, trying to remove it from the others control. A wicked smile played across Harry's lips. He dropped control as Draco yanked hard on the whip. The mud lost its form once it was removed from his control. Draco had just enough time to redirect it before it could cover him.

He had used the tactic a couple of times already. It looked like it was time to change things up. There weren't that many actual spells and charms that he had learned in the other world. Sure, he had read the books and done the work. Hermione did help with the homework, but not nearly as much as people would expect. Just because he hated the paperwork aspect of things didn't mean he was useless. Plus, the time spent with the Weasley's during the summer taught him some interesting tricks.

Fred and George of the other world were under-appreciated geniuses.

Harry stabbed his wand forward in a quick series of jabs. Streaks of sparks shot toward Draco. They were meant to distract rather than harm. Even if they did make contact, it was basically a small static shock. The spell had been created as an indoor version of fireworks, but the sparks refused to change color. Regardless, it was impressive and looked like it would hurt.

Draco's eyes went wide. He batted away the streaks with a shimmering shield that took form at the end of his wand that made it look like the blond had a glowing tennis racket.

Harry gave one last stab, this time his arm stretched out to the full length. A swirling tangle of thread shot out and formed into a lasso. The rope looped around the hand that Draco didn't use to hold his wand.

Draco's eyes snapped to the tightening rope on his wrist. The moment of distraction allowed a streak of sparkles to connect with his shoulder. He flinched in expectation of the pain only to find it was hardly above a tingle.

Harry didn't give him time to let the information sink in. He snapped his wand in a quick vertical motion. An arc in the rope rocketed toward Draco. The blond found himself launched off the platform as the lasso on his wrist went taught.

"Winner, Harry Potter!" Professor Riddle announced.

The crowd erupted in cheers. Harry dismissed the rope. He was tempted to give a bow to the crowd but felt that it would have been in poor taste. Draco got to his feet and brushed himself off by the time Harry had left the platform.

"Good match." Harry gave Draco a nod as he passed.

Draco didn't say anything, but returned the nod, nonetheless. They walked back to the waiting area in an awkward silence. Unlike the previous tournament, the Round Robin setup didn't send the losing duelist away. Harry split off once they reached the back area.

"Excuse me." Remmy hopped up from her chair and approached her brother.

They exchanged a few words before Remmy led her brother over to the others.

"Draco would like to let you know that he was impressed with the duel." Remmy stated. "He would like to extend an offer of friendship. Barring that, form an agreement of non-aggression."

Harry schooled his face to remain calm even though he desperately wanted to laugh. He stole a quick look over at Padma and Delphi. They both appeared to be considering it. After a moment, Delphi shrugged. Padma gave him a small nod.

"Sure." Harry stood and offered his hand. "We'll try the friendship thing and settle on non-aggression if that doesn't work out."

Draco took his hand, shook it, then hurried over to another sitting area where there were a couple of Slytherin witches waiting for him. They both were on the plain side of looks but there was something familiar about them.

"Who is that with him?" Harry asked.

"Crabbe and Goyle." Remmy rolled her eyes. "They follow him everywhere."

Harry stared at her for a long moment. He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. They had said that witches outnumbered wizards, but he didn't consider that some of the guys he had known were ladies in this world.

"Are they in his coven?" Harry asked slowly.

"No." Remmy shook her head. "Their families are vassals to House Malfoy. It's a big confusing mess."

"I'll take your word on that." Harry continued to stare at the ceiling. Just when he thought he had the hang of his new world.

~§~

There were only a couple more duels before they took a break for lunch. The Coven had grown large enough that they could almost have their own table. Well, not nearly that big, but it felt like it. For the most part everyone got along. There was some tension, but that would be resolved in time. Rose and Delphi hadn't spent more time together than they needed to. While Padma, Miranda, and Hermione had formed their own little trio. Luna and Luna had slowly worked Delphi into a group with them and Lavender. Katie and Iris had stuck together with their mutual love of Quidditch and the fact that both had made the Hogwarts Team for their respective division.

Harry settled between Katie and Iris. Today, Hufflepuff had a scrimmage with Hogwarts. Technically, the two were on opposite sides, but they were separated by a division. Iris was in her last year in Cubs and Katie was in her last year of Mid. They also played different positions so there was hardly any tension.

"Delphi said I needed to ask you both about Quidditch." Harry looked from one witch to the other.

"I thought you played." Iris wrinkled her brow.

"You said you were a seeker." Katie nodded.

"I am… was… whatever." Harry shook his head. "But I guess it's different here."

"Ok." Iris shared a look with Katie. "What was it like over there?"

"Three hoops, one keeper, two beaters, three chasers, and a seeker." Harry explained.

The two nodded.

"Goals are worth ten points, catching the snitch is one-fifty and ends the game." Harry continued.

"What?" Iris gawked at him. "One hundred and fifty?"

"Yes." Harry paused. "How does it work here."

"The teams are the same." Katie answered. "Goals are worth ten, but the snitch is only worth fifty."

"It doesn't end the game either." Iris added.

"Then how does the game end?" Harry shifted his attention from one witch to the other.

"It ends after the second half." Iris explained.

Harry opened his mouth, but no words came out. He tried to formulate his thoughts.

"Halves?" He managed to ask.

"Each game has two halves." Katie answered. "Forty-five minutes each. Then there is half-time to swap out players if needed or discuss strategy. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins."

"But what about the snitch?" Harry asked.

"One snitch per half." Iris chimed in. "Once the snitch is caught the Seeker is a utility role. They can run interference, be a fourth chaser, or something like that."

"They can't be beaters or keepers." Katie added.

"Huh." Harry turned his attention to his food. "I guess that makes sense."

He nibbled on a piece of bacon as he thought.

"You're going to be at the game, right?" Iris squeezed a little closer to him.

"Of course." Harry flashed her a smile. "You get to play starting Seeker for Hufflepuff, right?"

"Yep." Iris preened. "We'll see how they look after the game. Put me on as an alternate."

"You'll do great." Harry slid an arm around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Thanks, Harry." Iris blushed.

"What about me?" Katie pouted. "Are you going to watch my game?"

"Yes." Harry slid an arm around her and pulled her closer as well. "I'll be cheering for both of you. It will be nice to watch a game for the fun of it."