"Non." She tossed aside her sword, and Harry thought she was about to forfeit, but she transformed fully into her avian form, and started tossing fireballs at him while backing away to the other side of the swamp. Her feathers were soaked so she couldn't fly, but she still looked scary. Harry could tell she was funnelling all her rage into the flames she was casting. Harry danced around his side of the arena, nearly tiring himself out trying to keep himself from being roasted. His last exploding potion was consumed by the flames, and he had very little left that wasn't fire-based.
Wait a sec, she's not holding her sword any more! Harry realized. He pulled out another two Beasties and shot them at Fleur, which caused her to come to her senses and pause the attack. Instantly, she figured out why Harry hadn't used about half of his devices, and dove for her sword as she went back to her human form. Harry tossed the only thing that he had left which wouldn't ignite the sword at her- his last sticking solution. The liquid splashed all over the sword and Fleur's hand just as she reached it, causing her hand, and the sword, to stick to the ground. Stuck in an awkward position and unable to move, Harry pulled out a whiz-bang and aimed it right at Fleur.
"Do you yield, Fleur?" He asked tentatively.
"I yield," she grumbled as she held up her free hand. The referee ended the duel, declaring Harry the winner.
"'ow is it you can always get me so flustered?" Fleur muttered to Harry irritably as they made their way off the platform.
"I... uh... sorry about the swamp thing," Harry said, rubbing his neck as he blushed slightly. Flustered? Great choice of words there, Fleur.
"It was not ze swamp zat made me lose my temper. It was... hm... do you know 'ow much I enjoy duelling gracefully?" Harry nodded, recalling how Fleur had moved in the first duel as well as this one, until she fell into the swamp, of course. "You seem to tumble ever which way like ze clumsy boy I saw at ze ball, and yet you still end up where you need to be. Tell me, 'arry, is it all an act?"
"Act?" Harry cocked his head to the side.
"You are no ordinary fourth-year, are you, 'arry? You are 'iding many secrets, are you not?" She eyed him curiously.
"Uh... I don't know what you're talking about, Fleur. I just get lucky sometimes. Bye." Harry quickly rushed ahead to his own tent. He could feel Fleur's eyes on his back the entire way.
One tie, one win, Harry thought. I'm doing better than last time already. Still, he was up against Krum again as his final duel, and he still didn't know what the Bulgarian's weapon or strategy was. What was it the twins said? When in doubt, add more explosions? He began stuffing his belts with as many of the remaining potions as he could.
He spent his time waiting for the next duel trying to guess what Krum would be using. His strength in duelling came from his own extreme magical power and endurance. He probably wouldn't be using stored magic like Cedric, because that would be a weakness for him. Maybe it was another magical weapon, like Fleur. Krum was physically fit. All the Durmstrang students were. Harry wasn't sure if muggle-style weapons were part of the curriculum, but he did know that duelling was a standard class there. Krum's only other strength was Quidditch... Harry smacked himself in the head. Why didn't I use a broom? I could have just flown above them and dropped potions like bombs, he realized. Then again, why didn't anyone else think of brooms?
Just in case Krum did think of using his broom, Harry decided to swap one of his potions belts for another belt with more Bursting Beasties and Wildfire Whiz-bangs. They could fly straight up and travel quite a distance. Hoping he had enough firepower on hand to take down an internationally acclaimed seeker, he waited for his last duel to start. He was afraid of losing quickly to Krum the same way he had in the first Trial of Champions and kept playing the scenario in his head. By the time the official stepped into the tent to get him, his heart was pounding and he was so tense he nearly fired one of his Whiz-bangs. Calm down, he told himself. He quickly reminded himself of occlumency exercises to quickly bring his emotions back in line.
He heard Krum's heavy footsteps the moment he left his tent's silencing wards. Turning his head, Krum was now looking twice as big as usual. He was wearing full wizarding battle-armour instead of robes. It wasn't just a light dragonhide like his herbology gloves, it was made of heavy dragon-scale. The armour itself must have weighed at least thirty kilograms, but Krum was walking at a fairly good pace towards the platform. Harry could outmanoeuvre and maybe flank him, but he got the feeling Krum didn't need to bother dodging with all the armour on. Harry then noticed that Krum was carrying a long, wooden stick. At first he thought that Krum really was going to fly on a broom, but then he realized it was much longer and it didn't have any bristles. It was a staff.
If Hermione had been here, she would have explained at length the history of staves, the transition to wands, and their inherent weaknesses and differences in the magic. All Harry knew was that all wizards stopped using staves after they invented wands, and that was thousands of years ago. Had Krum really learned how to use one? He was about to find out very soon.
After handing in their wands once again, Harry watched Krum make his way in his heavy armour to his starting position. He decided that the best way for him to win was to take advantage of Krum's immobility. As soon as the duel began, Harry pulled out his last Portable Swamp and tossed it at Krum immediately. The Bulgarian whirled the staff over his head and batted the little package away, but that caused it to deploy mid-air. Instead of creating an actual swamp, it simply exploded in a huge shower of mud and slime, splashing all over Krum's half of the arena. Krum, realizing there was nothing corrosive or poisonous in the mixture, simply ignored the mess and began an incantation.
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