As I stood in the ring for my third match, seeing the Referee declare me the winner filled me with no pleasure. I had won the duel by default, my opponent had been hurt in his previous match and wasn't in any shape to duel.
If he had an hour or two to recover, he would have been healed enough to compete, but with how fast the matches were moving, he wasn't able to make it in time and had to forfeit.
Even though I was two duels away from winning the competition, this duel actually reduced my chances to make it to the international competition. I had been awarded a meager twenty-five points by default for the match.
As I looked at the scoreboard, I realized that this duel was the final nail in the coffin of my hope to be at the top of the food chain in points. Looking at the scores stand right now, there was a chance I may not even be in the top three.
But in a way, it almost was freeing. Now, I had no other alternatives, my back was against the wall, either I won the tournament, or I probably wasn't going to make it to the next level. And If I was honest with myself, that's how I liked it. I didn't come here to place second best. I came to win the whole damn thing.
Even though the next match hadn't started, I knew Adam was going to win. He didn't make mistakes in his duels; every move he made during his matches were a complex set of actions designed to maximize his winnings.
Even if Adam lost a fight, he had scored close to fifty points in each of his matches. Not only would he have another shot at victory in the loser's bracket, but it would also allow him to continue building points.
My prediction turned out to be true. Adam dominated his last match with an additional fifty-two points. After watching him duel for three times, I was starting to understand his strategies. One of the things that helped him rack up points besides casting different spells was countering his opponent's spells with their counterspells.
Doing so was riskier than dodging or using the shield charm to evade a hex. Spells move so fast that you have to react initially to counter them, if you misunderstand your opponent and cast the wrong counterspell, it's game over.
I also resolved to try and keep my voice down while chanting—no need to give Adam any help with figuring out what I was casting. Sometimes it was hard to keep your voice down when casting. I don't know why. But the mental effort needed for some spells seemed easier to muster when you yelled or shouted during a match.
It was something I resolved to work on over the next couple of years, eventually working my way up to nonverbal casting, which was supposed to be incredibly difficult.
I will never forget the professional duel Uncle John took me to in South America. It was awe-inspiring, the duelers down there were utterly silent, only using nonverbal spells in their duels.
Countering a spell in the pro-leagues was extremely risky, you had to figure out what was cast with simple wand movements that had been perfected to have as little movement as possible. Sometimes the color of the spell helped identify it, but at that level, it was smarter to either use the shield or get out of the way.
The main reason why Adam has been able to pull off so many points was that he outclassed his opponents. It also probably helped that he had seen them duel before. Should he go up against a tougher opponent, I bet he doesn't spend as much time trying to rack up points. After all, while points are nice, they are secondary to winning.
The more I strategized about my upcoming match, the more I realized that I was fairly lucky, the way my previous duels went down didn't reveal that much of what I was capable of.
Yes, I gave away the secret that I knew how to manipulate the shield charm to great effect, but most of my second match was fought in a cloud of smoke where he couldn't observe me. And since my third match was a victory by default. Adam hadn't got much insight into what I was capable of doing.
Soon, it was time. As we walked to the ring, Adam remarked, "I'm impressed you made it this far. When I first saw you sign up, I assumed you would get knocked out during the first or second round."
I could tell from his tone that he was implying that this was as far as I got. I smiled while baring my teeth at him, "Yeah, just think, only two more matches to go before I win it all."
Adam's eyes hardened, "You're going to have to do better if you want to get past me."
"Don't worry, I was planning on it. Do try to keep up."
With the smack talk out of the way, we both made our way to our opposing starting rings. Both of us were tense, each waiting for the go-ahead from the Referee to begin.
We both watched each other's movements like two cowboys getting ready to duke it out. All we needed was the signal. While the tension built, I gathered my mental energy, I had a strategy for this match, and it required me to make the opening move.
The second the ref gave the signal, I was already moving. Half a breath later, my ivory-colored wand was in my hand, and with a quick twist of my wand, I chanted, "Aguamenti."
Usually, the water charm was used to summon a clear stream of drinkable water. But, like the fire charm, I had discovered it was far more malleable. With enough concentration and energy, I learned that I could increase the water pressure. The results were fascinating,
A thick beam of water as wide as my fist erupted from the tip of my wand with enough speed and pressure to strip skin from bone.
Almost faster than the eye could track, the water reached Adam. But then he smirked as he brought up his wand, and countered, "Protego."
A glowing shield shimmered into existence, protecting him from the water.
As my spell crashed into his shield for a moment, it looked like the shield would buckle under, but it held fast, sending water crashing all around him soaking his side of the ring.
Having accomplished my goal, I let the spell fade away.
He shot me a smug look, "What? Did you think that you were the only one who knew the Shield Charm?"
I held in a smirk, not wanting to give away the game. Unbeknownst to Adam, I had been counting on him knowing the shield charm. Now I just needed to keep up the ruse. Putting on a frustrated expression, I tried to give the impression that things weren't going to plan.
Adam, done quipping, fired off his own spell in kind. As I watched the silver jet of light approach, I did something that I hadn't willingly done all day.
Rather than choose to block or counter the spell headed my way, I spun out of the circle. I was pretty sure Adam was surprised at my move, not wanting him to catch on to my plan, I pretended to stumble as I muttered, "Gracius," under my breath.
I hid a smirk when I saw the blue beam go wide completely, missing Adam and hit the ground. The trap was set, now all I needed was to distract Adam
Everything was going to plan except the universe decided to remind me that what can go wrong, will go wrong. My pretending to stumble turned into a real one as I crashed towards the floor. I think Adam sensed blood in the water because a shark-like grin appeared on his face.
I'm not going to lie, I almost panicked, this was turning out to be more riskier than I had initially planned.
As I turned my fall into a roll, I caught a glimpse of Micheal staring gleefully at me. He probably thought that this was the end for me. I couldn't wait to see his expression when I pulled this off.
It was a good thing I rolled as soon as I hit the ground because a jet of red light smacked into the area I just left. Had I fallen, it would have hit me.
When I got back to my feet, I realized I only had moments before I was hit with another spell. "Protego." I loudly shouted, afraid that the shield wouldn't appear in time.
Thankfully, the shield made it in time, and the red beam of light bounced off my shield and went flying towards the sky.
Having made it past the difficult part, I knew all I needed to win was one more thing. Somehow, I needed to find a way to force Adam to move from the starting ring.
With that in mind, I took a page out of Anna's playbook. One of the benefits of spending so much time with her practicing was that I picked up on her chain-spells.
Knowing that her chain-spell with three moves wouldn't cut it against Adam, I went with her longest one. Originally, it consisted of five spells, but after some research, I had discovered another spell that fit in seamlessly at the end.
What made that final spell such a game-changer was that it also was a bridge where I could flow right into Anna's second-longest chain-spell. It brought the total to a ten layered spell-chain that was very difficult to pull off.
I had been planning on surprising Anna with the series when we got back to school. But, this was a good time to show it off. I'll bet she's going to be jealous. If I know her, she will probably spend every waking moment practicing the series until she could make it through to the end. But, it'll probably take her some time to master it, one wrong wand movement, and the whole thing is useless.
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Not wanting to waste another second, I started the spell series. As the first spell was sent towards Adam, I saw him track and dismiss the threat, but when I got to the second spell before the first had reached him, he narrowed his eyes.
Unsurprisingly, he deflected the first and made ready to deal with the second. His narrowed eyes rose in surprise because while he was making ready to deal with the second spell I had already finished my fourth.
He gritted his teeth in determination as he cast shield after shield determined not to move. But, as the pace picked up, I saw a hint of worry appear in his eyes by the time I reached my seventh spell.
Surrounding Adam were shields blinking into existence only to block one of my spells and then disappear. My spells arrived faster and faster, not allowing Adam anytime to counter and interrupt me. If he hesitates for a single second, he will be buried beneath an avalanche of spells.
The hints of worry I saw in his eyes had morphed into full-blown panic by the time I got to my ninth spell, he was being overwhelmed, and he knew he had to do something to turn the tables, or he wouldn't make it.
Following my example, Adam left the circle to block my tenth and final spell. It was the first time today that he had been forced out of the starting ring.
Sweat was pouring down my face, that spell series took a lot out of me. As I took in the sight of Adam leaving the circle, I knew he was planning on going on the offensive. I sighed in relief. The trap was sprung.
I will always treasure the look of absolute shock on Adam's face as he left the ring and went down in an ungraceful tumble to the floor.
You see, I had set my trap back at the beginning of the match. Adam had assumed that I used a high-powered water charm intending to force him out of the ring.
But what he didn't know was that I was counting on him using the shield. What I really wanted was flooding his side with water. My stumble out of the ring may not have been as graceful as I intended, but it did its job of distracting him with thoughts of victory.
He was so engrossed with winning at that point that he completely missed the fact my second spell that went wide was supposed to miss him. It was a Freezing Charm, and I had been aiming at the water.
The water surrounding Adam had turned into a transparent, slick sheet of ice. When he left his circle intending to counterattack, he wasn't paying that much attention to his footwork and crashed onto the ground.
And it wasn't a nice fall either, his legs went sliding forward and left the ground, leaving Adam falling back towards the ground, he ended up landing on his back. For a moment, I felt bad, that looked like it hurt.
As Adam laid on the ground gasping for air, I knew that I needed to capitalize on this moment. Following in Harry Potter's footsteps, I chanted, "Expelliarmus."
Adam's ivory-colored wand shot out of his hand with no resistance landing on my side of the ring. As I picked up his wand, Adam started pushing himself off the ground while staring at me in disbelief as I waved his wand at him.
No wonder Harry likes to disarm people and take their wands. It was an immensely satisfying feeling to see the look of understanding in my opponent's eyes that he was finished, and there wasn't anything he could do.
The Referee called the match in my favor, and the judges released a large 39 into the air. But, at this point, I was hardly paying attention to my points. I had reached the end of the regular bracket, only one match stood before me and total victory.
After the ref dispelled the ice, I walked over and put out my hand, intent on helping Adam up. After I pulled him to his feet, I handed his wand back to him.
Adam shook his head, "You're a sneaky little git." He accused.
I shot him a sly smile, followed by an innocent look, "Who, me?" I questioned. "I don't know what you mean. It was completely accidental."
For the first time today, Adam was looking at me with grudging respect. "I'll be ready for you next time," he warned.
I smiled, "I'll be waiting for you at the end of the line, just make sure you don't lose in the next bracket. It's nice to face someone who forces me to push past limits."
When we got to our sections, I could tell the other members of the Silver Spears were still a little bit shocked. I was a second-year who was casually throwing out third and fourth-year level spells. Then I outwitted Adam, who they assumed would win the competition.
I think that out of everyone, the most surprised was Jean. In the beginning, he had assumed I didn't understand the level of competition I would be facing and would lose. But now, he was carefully evaluating me with new eyes.
I knew sprinkled throughout the crowd there had to be some older members of the Silver Spears watching me with interest. No doubt wondering if I can pull this off in my second year, how impressive will I be during my seventh.
I had the next thirty to forty minutes to rest and relax before I had to duel again. I would face whoever won the losers bracket for the title.
I was expecting Adam to win since he made it so far in the tournament, he was seeded high in the second bracket. He only needed to win one duel, and we would be butting heads again. This time, he would be on his guard for little tricks.
It didn't take long for the competition to keep on rolling. I watched with glee when the final dueler from the Hidden Lotus got eliminated by Robin, the sneaky Ravenclaw chick who almost eliminated me with sleeping gas. Not being able to resist, I shot Micheal a smug look.
The final two ended up being against Robin and Adam. Although Robin didn't use the same strategy that she used against me against Adam. Her style was full of tricks and traps trying to trick her opponent. I inwardly remarked that she probably would have made a good Slytherin.
However, Adam had been put on guard against tricks. He took no chances on the feigned openings that Robin made.
Instead, he slowly wore her down with his relentless battery of spells. It took him a while, but in the end, he won the bracket. We would be facing each other in a grudge match. Winner takes all.
When it was time for Adam and me to head to the ring for the final match, Jean pulled Adam and me off to the side, "I want you to know you've both been amazing today. I know it's never easy to duel and compete against fellow team members, and no matter who wins, you should both be proud of yourselves. Remember, give it your best shot and leave everything behind in the ring."
As I approached the ring, I had already picked my path to victory. My first duel showed my skill with the shield. My second showed my ability to get myself out of a trap. The third doesn't even bear mentioning, and my fourth revealed my speed and cunning.
I'll bet Adam thinks he has me figured out, but now I'm going to show him what power looks like, there will be no subtle schemes in this duel. I will be going with raw, naked, power.
Last year, I had figured out that I was different from others, and I'm not even talking about my memories of my previous life.
I don't know if it was because I was reborn, or if I just won the magical genetic lottery. But there existed an insurmountable gap between my peers and me. It wasn't my intelligence, or that I picked up spells quickly. It had to do with raw power that I was able to access.
For example, on the scale of a wizard and witch's ability, Hermione was in the top 98-99 percent. She was probably as talented as a normal person could get, with Harry and Ron being down at 80 to 90 percent.
But, some were outliers, they threw off the scale of power so much they really couldn't be quantified in the same group. The four founders of Hogwarts, Merlin, Dumbledore, Grindelwald, and Voldemort all belong to this rare group.
More than once, Harry mentioned the feeling of absolute power Dumbledore projected. Similarly, Professor Snape often remarked with a wary reverence that Voldemort's power was unfathomable.
I was becoming increasingly confident that I belonged to this group. Of course, I wasn't their match yet, I was only thirteen, and they had plenty of age and experience. But I do not doubt that one day my power will be a match for them.
It was this raw power I was planning on tapping into. Last year, in Defense Against the Dark Arts I had discovered even simple spells I used were overwhelmingly powerful compared to my fellow students.
Once, last year, Cedric disarmed me, and all I felt was a simple tug on my wand. But, when I tried to do the same, his arm was nearly ripped off. It had actually taken more practice to tone down and master my power output than it had been to learn the spells.
But today was different, no more toning it down, it was time to cut loose. I will not let anyone stand in my way.
Today marks my first steps on a long journey. One day, the whole world will know my name. The one thing that is standing before the start of the Legend of Alexander was Adam, and teammate or not, nothing was going to stop me today.
As Adam and I got in our circles, we both eyed each warily. By this point in the tournament, we were both exhausted. It wasn't just the spellwork that drained our energy. There was a mental component to fighting. The amount of concentration required in a fight was mentally draining over time, and I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and take a nap.
I had already decided to end this match as quickly as possible. So, when the Referee gave the signal, I pulled out my wand, pointed it at Adam, and cut loose. "Flipendo." I chanted.
Even as quick as I was, I wasn't that much faster than Adam, he had also gotten his wand out and sent a spell my way.
We were both prepared to raise a shield, but our spells collided with a bang and went ricocheting in different directions. For a moment, our eyes locked in surprise. While it wasn't too rare for spells to hit like that, it still didn't happen very often.
Knowing that I needed to overwhelm Adam, I reached deep within the well of power within me as I cast my spells. Every spell I cast was at the absolute maximum power that the spell could contain. When they would crash into Adam's shield, they did so with a loud bang before jetting off in another direction.
Of course, Adam wasn't content to go without a fight. As many spells I sent at him, he returned the favor. For several minutes the ring was dominated by beams of red, blue, and silver spells flying back and forth all over the place. I bet that the audience was getting a kick out of the show.
For a while, it seemed as though we were deadlocked, but I could tell the power of my spells were slowly taking their toll on Adam. He had to put more and more energy and concentration into his shield, which reduced his offensive ability.
After blocking Adam's latest spell, I knew I had to do something about that shield. I couldn't use the more powerful spells that I used against the Grendel. There was too great of a chance of injury.
So, my thoughts turned to the stunning spell. It was a fantastic spell to put someone down. One hit and you were done, there was no fighting it, or shaking it off, just instant unconscious.
The reason why I thought it might be useful was the power that could be packed into the spell. There was a reason why the stunning spell was the bread and butter of Aurors.
Gathering all my energy, I shouted, "Stupefy."
A red spell shot out of my wand pulsing with power. When it crashed into Adam's shield his eyes widened with alarm as cracks formed in the shield before sending the spell bolting away.
A wolfish smile crept out. I almost had him. Redoubling my efforts, I roared, "Stupefy."
The red beam of light seemed to crackle with energy as it shot across the stage. This time, when Adam called forth his shield, my stunning spell punched right through and rammed him in the middle of his chest.
Instantly unconscious, Adam collapsed like a rock. The Referee rushed out on to the stage. Pointing his wand at Adam, he chanted, "Rennervate."
Adam stirred sluggishly, slowly opening his eyes full of confusion. He had no idea what happened.
Relieved that Adam was ok, I noticed the silence surrounding the audience. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. It was a little uncomfortable being at the center of so many gazes. I don't know what prompted me, but I felt the overwhelming urge to raise my mental shields.
As soon as they slammed in place, I felt several pokes at my shield. Wanting to get out of there, I pulled Adam to his feet and returned to our seats.
At first, I was a little worried that Adam would hold a grudge due to my victory. But if anything, he was happy to find someone to push him, someone to overcome. On our way back to our seats, he made me promise that we would get some practice in with each other before the international conference.
Point-wise, Adam was at the very top, and Robin was in a close second. They were invited to the international competition, although since I won the division, I will be in a higher seed, and they will start in a lower seed.
I ended in fourth place, missing out on third by two points. But it didn't matter, I won the division. Although I need to work on my strategy more, as long as I keep winning, that is what is important.