Chapter 52.5- Doom Days

“Winner: Potter” The referee said before gesturing for me to get off the stage. Healers were heading towards my opponent but he had made it to his feet on his own and was dusting himself off.

“Good duel” I said as I walked towards him. He narrowed his eyes at me. He was looking at me like he was not quite certain I was bering genuine. I tried to stretch my smile even further.

“Yes, you duel well, Potter” he said, smiling stretching his own face as I leaned forward to hand his wand over to him hilt-first.

“Thank you. But can you tell me how you did that trick with my arm?” I asked. It seemed like one hell of a trick. Being able to control an opponent’s movements to that extent was

His smile froze on his face before disappearing slowly until it had turned into a scowl that split his face in two. He gave me a look I found impossible to interpret before he turned about and stomped away. I resolved to watch the rest of his duel to figure it out even as I began to make my way back to Sirius’ box.

“Nice one, Harry. Almost thought you were a goner there” he said as I walked into the room. It reeked of alcohol. Not just alcohol, I thought as I sniffed further.

“Really, Sirius? The waitress?” I asked, smelling the familiar perfume that the lady attached to the private boxes wore. She was supposed to be in charge of keeping us topped up with drinks and ensuring our comfort. I was sure that what she and Sirius just did was far from her job description.

“Hostess” He tried to correct, a distinction without difference. My unimpressed look told him just as much.

“Well, I had to find something to do, you now? You’re the one that decided to sleep in”

“Yeah, some of us needed to get our rest. You know, on account of duelling today”

“Are you Sure you got enough rest though? That guy gave you more trouble than I would have expected”

“He had one trick. A good trick, but only one trick. Beyond that, he was smack-dab average” I said, and I had the sinking feeling that that was going to be true for most of the people I would be facing here. Even having one trick was probably going to be too much for most of them. I turned my neck towards the field, noticing that there were dozens of duels taking place at the same time. If I pointed at one, the glass that covered the viewing box would turn into a screen showing that duel and only that duel in focus.

I switched from duel to duel, looking for something interesting. The vast majority of them were not. I stopped when the screen switched to one with a familiar looking girl. Athena something? She was the one that had been Krum’s hostage in the second task. She tore her opponent apart in a matter of seconds. The lanky blonde was on the floor and bleeding from at least three different places by the time the duelbwtween them came to an end. The buzzer in the room rang.