Finally, another official came in and announced that he would be up against Fleur on the second duel. That meant Cedric would be fighting against Krum before him. Harry wondered how Cedric would do in that situation- last time, he had used his spells fairly well but Krum still managed to beat him with better strength and endurance. This time, with the glove, he could launch far more powerful spells and faster as well. It really depended on what Krum had chosen as his weapons. Only a few minutes later, he was told the first duel was already over. Cedric must have launched off all his spells as quickly as he could. Whether that was enough to beat Krum, Harry wouldn't know until the end of the day.
Up against Fleur, Harry wore only one layer of shield-robes and hat and carried less on his belts as well. He didn't want to get weighed down, and Sirius had said she was very quick and nimble with her weapons. As they stepped out, Harry looked at what Fleur was carrying. It was a sword and shield, alright- but they were both made of wood. He could understand a wooden shield, but was a wooden sword supposed to be dangerous? He guessed that his immolation vials and whiz-bangs would be very useful this round. Fleur was eyeing him with equal curiosity, trying to figure out what all the devices Harry had strapped all over his body would do. Once again, they handed their wands in at the beginning of the duel and bowed.
Harry immediately opened up with two Bursting Beasties again, but Fleur nimbly dodged both of them and purposefully dragged her wooden sword through the shower of sparks and absorbed them. The sword ignited and began burning with a light blue flame. "Why, zank you, 'Arry!" she smiled sweetly as she charged forward. Harry pulled out a Whiz-bang and shot it directly at her as she approached. Fleur held her shield at an angle, which created a gust of wind and deflected the fireball above her. Holding her sword up, part of the flames got absorbed by the sword, whose flames began to burn even more brightly.
Okay, no more fire, thought Harry as he kept his eyes trained on Fleur. Thanks to his legilimency, he could predict her physical moves pretty easily, but the sword was a surprise. Sometimes the flames extended, sometimes it threw a fireball, and sometimes it shot a flaming spear towards Harry. It all seemed to be controlled by small movements from her wrist instead of any kind of incantation or button on the sword itself. Fleur was moving like a dancer, flicking the lightweight sword around more like a baton. His robes' shields could handle the glancing blows if Harry didn't manage to dodge the flames completely, but he knew they would shatter to a direct hit. He needed to slow down Fleur's assault. Alright then, what else have I got?
Harry opened up a bag of Clap Traps and spread them out in front of him while he backed away from Fleur. She skidded to a halt, but ended up stopping right in the middle of the traps. Harry clapped and all of them burst at once. The sticky ones bounced up and clung to her, but the powder-spewing ones were less effective as Fleur's shield blew their contents away. She advanced on Harry again, but her movements were obviously hampered by the sticky traps. Harry could now dodge her attacks much more easily and decided to keep impeding her. Keeping his eye on her as he dodged her attacks, he palmed a sticking solution and concentrated on reading her movements. When she finally took a big step forward, he dropped the vial just beneath her feet and she ended up stepping on it, tripping as her foot was glued to the ground.
Got her! he gleefully thought, but she quickly slipped out of her boots and continued fighting barefoot, leaving the shoe stuck on the arena floor. She muttered something in French that Harry was sure wasn't very polite, and once again went on the offensive. He searched his belt for another non-flammable device. Pulling out another bag of powder, he smirked. Fleur will like this one... but I have to take care of that shield first. Tossing another Avalanche-in-a-Tube, he waited for the pebbles to rain down on Fleur, forcing her to protect her head with her shield, and he tossed another bag of powder. This one contained deliberately aged Instant Romance Powder. It burst as it hit the ground, foaming up into a slippery solution that also sparked and stung Fleur's bare feet. Just as she stumbled, Harry released the Portable Swamp in front over her, causing her to splash into the muddy water. The flames on her sword were instantly extinguished.
Sopping wet, covered in mud and sputtering loudly, Fleur's goddess-like image of beauty was effectively ruined. Harry felt the burst of an aura from Fleur again- but this time, it wasn't the allure. She transformed partially into her avian form, re-igniting her sword as she pulled herself from the swamp. Turning back to her human form, Harry could tell she was very annoyed. She obviously didn't let this side of herself show in public very often. Harry really didn't have much left in his arsenal that wasn't based on flames and sparks- maybe the exploding potions would work? He threw one of them directly at Fleur, whose shield pushed it away with a gust of wind. Unfortunately for her, it still exploded fairly close to her, knocking her back into the swamp. Silently mouthing a string of profanities in French, she once again lit up her sword with her avian form, but paused as Harry readied another exploding potion.
"'ow many of zose potions do you 'ave left, 'arry?" she inquired.
The one in his hand was the only one left, but the bottle did look similar to the immolation vials on his belt. He decided to bluff, and replied, "Many more. Do you want to keep doing this?"
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