Chapter 58.1- Doom Days

The round of sixteen ended with a duel for the ages. Fire versus transfiguration. The transifiguration master that had managed to beat is fellow in the previous round had been knocked our himself after being faced with one of those who I felt likely to meet me in the finals. The Chinese girl remained in the running as well, but considering how much difficulty she had had in her round of 32 match— she had easily had the closest match of those of us remaining— it was doubtful that she would be making it much farther. The duel against Mr Charms and Walls had shown a few of her weaknesses— a prioritization of finesse over power to the point where she had lacked any true tools for punching through a stalwart defence, and a reliance on movement over shielding to another extreme.

Sure, she was quick. And her wand movement was almost impossibly precise, but what did it matter in face of overwhelming power. I could already count about four of us still in the running who could bring that overwhelming power to bear. And then there was Angel Serrano. If the Chinese girl thought she could be precise, then hen was something else. He cut with all the sharpness of a scalpel where his opponent fought with a cleaver. His last two duels….they had been beautiful in a way that was difficult to put into words in truth. He weaved through attacks like he could see them coming.

It wasn’t even legilimency. He did most of it without maintaining eye contact. Instead, it was just sheer predictive intellect. When he returned to the box, he watched the next duels with a quiet intensity like he was committing every action into his mind. Every choice, every spell, he catalogued for later. That was probably how he fought so well. I knew I would have to switch up my fighting style when I faced him. Thinking about that made me wonder what exactly I had left open to be deduced from my previous duels. That I had power in spades. Fulfu tempests to break through a shield straightaway probably left little doubts about that. Also that I was good at transfiguration.

I had used it exclusively in taking out Mr Trick. He’d been knocked out in the round of 32 by Serrano himself. No handshake before the duel, no contact at all, and he’d still been able to take control of Serrano’s hand with his spell. Serrano had switched hands, paralyzed his own hand with a spell and then smashed him into the ground with his right hand instead of his left. So that meant he was ambidextrous in a way few were, and also that he’d thought through the trick and had countermeasures ready if he still somehow managed to fall into it. The only true loss was that I still hadn’t been able to figure out how it worked.

Serrano hadn’t either if he had still fallen for it.