While the roaring noise of Cassius's final victory still trembled through the vast dueling halls, a separate ring—Ring 14—glowed rose-gold beneath the soft morning light.
A different kind of crowd had gathered there.
Not the usual mix of coaches and students.
Mostly boys.
Teenagers and near-adults elbowing one another, whispering, nudging, some with flowers they'd brought in after hearing the princess of Beaxbatons was competing in this tournament hoping to get the chance to get her fancy.
Because she had arrived.
Fleur Delacour stepped lightly onto the platform, silver-blonde hair rippling behind her like a living ribbon.
Her Beauxbatons uniform fit her like it had been woven directly onto her body, enchanted silk glimmering with every breath.
Her presence alone bent the atmosphere—subtle, shimmering pressure radiating from her part-Veela magic.
Not something she consciously summoned.
Something she simply was.
Her opponent—a sixteen-year-old Italian boy with a reputation for aggressive spellwork—stared at her with wide, glazed eyes.
His wand hand drooped before the duel even began.
Fleur sighed softly.
Again.
The referee raised her wand.
"Duelists, prepare—"
Her opponent stammered something like, "B-bellissima—"
"—Begin!"
Fleur flicked her wrist.
A single pale-blue gust of charmwork—gentle by her standards—took the boy off his feet, flipping him neatly over the ring's edge.
The match lasted less than a second.
The crowd erupted in cheers half for her spellwork, half simply because she smiled politely as she stepped down from the ring.
She ignored all of it.
Her mind was elsewhere.
She was looking for a real challenge, not to win simply due to her looks alone.
~
Ring 7.
Another older boy.
Another opponent who couldn't stop tripping over his own heartbeat.
"Enchanteresse…" he muttered, red-faced.
Fleur raised an eyebrow.
Honestly.
He lifted his wand to cast—she disarmed him mid-thought.
The wand spiralled ten feet into the air before she caught it lazily with her off-hand.
The referee didn't even bother with calling a verdict.
She stepped off the platform again after handing the wand back to its rightful owner.
More cheers.
More adoration.
More embarrassment.
She wasn't proud of these victories.
She wasn't ashamed either.
It simply felt… tedious.
As she passed a group of girls, she heard the expected whisper:
"Is she even using real spells?"
"I heard she doesn't have to."
"It's unfair—"
"Don't stare, she'll melt your brain—"
Fleur sighed and kept walking.
They think I am using my allure deliberately… as if I can turn it off.
Her Third Victory
More of the same.
A boy from Austria.
Older, stronger, confident—until he saw her.
Then not strong at all.
Three seconds.
Disarmed.
Stunned.
Match over.
Fleur didn't celebrate, didn't smile, didn't even look pleased.
Her expression remained cool and distracted as she slid her wand into her sleeve.
Something gnawed at the back of her thoughts, something she couldn't shake.
Whispers had started circulating about another prodigy—a British child, impossibly young, whose duels were causing more stir than hers.
And not because of charm, but because of…
Power.
Real power.
Raw, clean, unsentimental.
She heard his name whispered again near the corridor.
"Cassius Snape—"
"That kid who flattened Rousseau—"
"He took down a Romanian brute like it was nothing—"
"Doesn't even look tired—"
"He's twelve—"
Fleur slowed her steps.
Twelve.
Twelve?
She scoffed quietly.
Beauxbatons had prodigies.
Durmstrang had monsters.
Ilvermorny had their duel-champions.
But a twelve-year-old?
Winning against older duelists without struggle?
Ridiculous.
And yet…
When she reached the next ring, her coach and Headmistress—Madame Maxine—approached her with slow and concise steps.
"Fleur! Have you zeen im'?"
"No," Fleur replied crisply. "But I have heard enough."
She hadnt even needed to mention who it was she was speaking of for Fleur to know, this vunderkid was the only one on the lips of all the participants now.
Off in the distance, she over heard something truly absurd.
"Did you hear Grindelwald reappeared just the watch the young Cassius's matches, that boy is really going to go places for sure."
Fleur blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"…What?" she whispered.
Grindelwald... a source of great fear within all of Europe having brought not one but two different magical wars to Europe in his time before being stopped... and yet... he was back.
And not just back but showing interested in this youth?
The implication made Fleur's jaw tighten.
"…Where is he now?"
"Just finished his fourth preliminary. He will join the top sixty-four."
Fleur's pulse skipped, though she was not entirely sure why.
Curiosity?
Annoyance?
Challenge?
She turned slightly, scanning the far side of the contest hall where clusters of coaches converged around a slim figure in dark dueling attire—black, silver-trimmed.
A boy barely into adolescence stood calmly while an adult fussed around him looking to be messing with him, while the other probably his teacher just watched on with intrigue, before a confetti bomb seemed to go off, making the older man back off coughing violently as he seemed to have swallowed quite a bit of the explosions contents.
It was almost as if he didnt care about the events of today, simply messing around like a child should, not a top ranked competitor he should still be practicing his simple charms not launching devastating offensive ones while deploying a shield charm student dont get taught until their third year of school.
As much as she was interested in the youth, her own prejudice had her doubting his ability.
Afterall he was still a man, even if he was a young one.
When it came time for him to stand opposite her, his ability and talent would mean next to nothing.
Just like all the others his jaw would hit the floor and his body shortly after that when she cast a stunner that floored him just like her own beauty had done.
So far as she was concerned this competition could hardly be called that, the only chance she would have a real challenge would be if there was a boy out there who could resist her natural allure... as if.
Or if another girl managed to make their way through the qualifiers into the final 8 and was seeded to stand against her, or also won against the boys to stand against one another in the finals.