26 September 1992, Hogwarts
"Mr Finnigan, whatever gave you the illusion that Harry Potter didn't pass the test last year. He did, and he was the best student at his level. The only reason that I chose to make him stay is because you are his year mates and the competitions, that I'll be signing you in, will be often based on age, so it would complicate things. But if it's a demonstration you desire, then it will be one you will get. Mr Potter, how about we have a little practice duel to show your classmates what they should expect to learn? I always like to start these things with a little demonstration."
Harry didn't like to be put on the spot especially when something else was on his mind. He liked things to be organized, scheduled, with enough room for randomness. He didn't think that he would be fighting Professor Flitwick for the first time in front of his classmates and from a look at the professor, the Potter scion knew didn't really have a choice in declining.
And so, he simply nodded and walked up to the platform. He couldn't hold back in this test, not really. Flitwick would know immediately and punish him for it. And honestly, for all his prowess in duelling, Harry wasn't really a violent person. He was an academic and that's where he shined the most. Truth be told, he would have declined the invitation to join this club if it wasn't an easy way to get away from Quirrell the previous year, but he grew to like the art aspect of it.
There was just something about analyzing and tactically countering spells that were mystifying to Harry and that was what he liked about dueling. Everyone else either wants it as an easy way to get gold and fame, which considering how pitiful most of the British duelling roster was in the international scene, was fairly possible. The other just like fighting opponents but Harry never really liked the idea of violence all that much.
Oh, he understood that it had its uses, but only as a show of power or as a last resort. Just responding to everything with a curse or a hex was just impractical and an easy way to make enemies. Still, for an entire semester, Harry had asked the professor for an opportunity at fighting him, not because he wanted to prove something, but to see how high the bar was. Oh, the half-goblin was obviously taking it easy on everyone, even the seventh years, but there was something that motivated Harry into being the first that would make the Professor sweat, even if it was a long way away.
So, yeah, while Harry was miles ahead of most senior students in Runes, magical theory, Advanced Arithmancy, and Spell Crafting, it didn't really translate to duelling skills. So even if everyone knew that Harry was above all others in terms of magical knowledge, it wouldn't be suspicious to take this seriously.
But damn, people were going to be very annoying. At least the rumours would stop anyone from pestering him.
Harry bowed to his professor who did the same and he took a balanced stance, not knowing what Flitwick was doing. The stance that the Professor was using was weird, but it seemed to work for him. From the angle of his wand and how his legs were bent, he could tell that it was an attacking one to compensate for his lack of height while taking advantage of his enhanced reflexes that came with the Goblin blood.
It didn't take long for the professor to cast the first spell. He was fast, that was certain, and so were his spells somehow. Harry stopped pondering about what could affect a spell's speed and chose to simply conjure a repelling shield, angling the spell towards the one following it, before sending in a disarming charm the half-goblin ducked under.
The professor gave him a mocking smile and Harry responded with a spell chain, three basic casts followed by a Flipendo and a Descendo. The idea was of straining a potential shield and flip the opponent over before pulling him down. Of course, the professor countered these spells in a fraction of a second, making them fade into nothing. It was amazing to his Arcane hearing. It was like the man was somehow untying them like knots. It was strangely beautiful.
Still, with the duel still continuing, the Professor used his first large scale charm. It seems like the prodding portion of the duel was over. The man conjured a boulder and sent it at Harry, who, with a wave of his wand cut it cleanly in half. Harry levitated one of the half boulders and sent it back at the professor and used that as a distraction to point his wand at the duelling platform, making it go up and down like it was made of rubber before sending it towards to professor hoping the wave would push him off.
What Harry didn't expect was the professor to use the coming wave to propel himself over the boulder and send a stunning charm at Harry. The Potter scion was barely able to duck under the spell and responded by summoning the boulder from behind the professor.
Alas, the professor sensed the coming threat and waved his wand behind him without even looking and the boulder turned into a swarm of butterflies with metallic wings, who suddenly flew aggressively towards Harry, who in his panic yelled out, "IGNIS!"
The flamethrower charm or Ignis, wasn't that difficult to cast, but the scale that Harry used it was impressive. The wave of fire consumed the coming insects and came towards the professor who didn't shield against them. Yeah, flame resistant charms could easily protect against this spell. Harry decided not to risk his vision by casting a wave of wind to dissipate the flames and maybe take the professor by surprise.
.....
Want to read ahead by more than 60 chapters. Then join my p@treon Right Now.
Link: p*atreon.com/BookReaderBoy (Remove the *)
Also Free members get 2 advanced chapters for Free as well.