A/N:
Finally, a nice, long-ass mother fu… I almost forgot this was a PG fic…er, here's a long chapter. Ahem.
Chapter 19
The Great Hall the next morning was alive with the buzz of a dueling tournament for the DA. As the DA was no longer a secret, many people that were not in it had heard of the tournament and were anxious to see it.
It seemed like Harry was constantly being asked by students if they could come to the tournament just to watch. Finally Harry broke down and talked to Dumbledore, who gave him permission to use the Great Hall so that anyone who wanted to could watch.
Even though Harry was expecting a large turnout, he could never have expected what he saw when he entered the Great Hall. It seemed that every Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor in the school was there.
Harry was surprised when he saw a few Slytherins, most of them young, 1st or 2nd years, but there were older ones as well. Harry grinned and waved to the Slytherin that had congratulated him after the quidditch match.
Harry stepped up onto the stage, to an uproar of applause. He smiled and signaled for silence, then addressed the crowd.
"This tournament will be done World Cup style, with 8 groups of four dueling round robin, the top two people from each bracket will move on to the single elimination rounds. Is everyone ready?"
The crowd erupted again.
"Alright then, first match, Ginny Weasley vs. Ernie McMillian."
They held 16 matches that night, so that each person dueled once. They would do the same over the next two nights, then take a one day break, and then would do all 8 2nd round matches the next day, followed two days later by the quarter finals, then the semi's a few days after that, and finally finish with the championship and consolation championship a week after that.
Harry beamed proudly at the duels he had seen. Ernie had put up a good fight, but Ginny finally got him with an amazing bat-bogey hex. Hermione had rolled over Michael Corner, finishing him in under a minute.
Ron was barely able to beat Terry Boot in one of the more exciting matches of the night. Neville had demolished Katie Bell, while he beamed proudly at his cousin when he beat Marietta. Luna Lovegood was also successful, defeating Cho in a long battle.
The next day proved even better than the first, when Ginny won again on a bat bogey hex, this time over Susan Bones. Mark fell to Neville, but Hermione cruised to another easy victory over a Ravenclaw 7th year who wasn't in the DA, but had entered the battle to fill in the extra slots needed, Ron took down a Hufflepuff 4th year Harry didn't know, Katie Bell also won, this time over Marietta, whom had now lost twice.
Harry was looking forward to Mark and Katie's match the next day, which would determine the second advancer from the group with Neville. Seamus secured a place in the second round after a brilliant shield charm knocked out his opponent with his own spell, Dean advanced as well, beating a stunned Michael Corner.
The third day of the tournament was the best yet, Ginny made it 3 straight, as did Hermione and Ron, and Mark actually beat Katie, and was the youngest dueler to make it through to the next round. When all the wins and losses were tallied up the Harry announced who would be dueling in the second round.
"Hem, hem," Harry muttered to get everyone's attention, many of the people laughed. "Okay, duel one will be Ginny Weasley and Cho Chang." There was mild applause at this.
"Duel two will be Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbot." Once again the two got a polite applause.
"Number three will be Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley." The hall erupted in an uproar at this, everyone wanted to see who of Harry's best friends would go the furthest.
"The fourth match will be Mark Evans and Luna Lovegood." The crowd exploded at Mark's name, everyone seemed to be pulling for the little guy.
"Match five will consist of Seamus Finnigan and Zacharias Smith." The crowd uproared at Seamus' name, he had become very popular since he started announcing the quidditch matches.
"The sixth match will be Dean Thomas and Terry Boot." The crowd applauded politely again, apparently this wasn't one of the more exciting matches.
"Match seven will be Lavender Brown vs. Padma Patil." The applause was slightly louder this time, and Harry noticed Ron give Padma a little smile and a thumbs up. They had been seeing a lot more of each other since Christmas.
"And the final match will be Parvati Patil vs. the only non-DA member still alive, Marcus Owen!" There was a huge applause at this, everyone not in the DA seemed to be rooting for Owens although he was a Slytherin (the same one whom congratulated Harry after the last quidditch match) as they all wanted to see a non-DA member win it, although they knew it was highly unlikely.
Two days later, Harry and practically the rest of the school filed into the Great Hall for the 2nd round elimination matches.
Ginny used her very popular bat-bogey hex, which seemed to be the talk of the tournament, again to easily put away Cho Chang.
In the second round, Neville used a brilliant summoning spell, taking Hannah Abbot's wand straight out of her hands and winning by default.
Ron and Hermione had easily the most exciting duel of the day, shooting spells back and forth until finally Hermione tripped on the seam of her robes and fell, Ron grinned and used stupefy to finish her, but Hermione had been feinting, as she used the shield charm protego immediately after she fell, and Ron's stunning spell backfired and knocked him out of the tournament.
Harry was both surprised and proud when Mark defeated Luna Lovegood with a brilliant impediment jinx.
Seamus and Zacharias had a brilliant duel, but Seamus came out on top, Dean prevailed as well over Terry Boot, and then Padma took down Lavender after a long duel.
Harry frowned a little at this, Lavender was the first sixth year Gryffindor to go down, but his sadness evaporated when he saw an excited Ron giving Padma a big hug, while Hermione winked at Harry and beamed at them.
Parvati became the second sixth year Gryffindor to go down, after Marcus got under her shield with a stunning spell.
"Now the semi-finals that will take place in three days time are set." Harry announced to the crowd.
"They will be, Ginny Weasley and Dean Thomas!" The crowd went crazy, they all knew that Ginny and Dean were dating, and couldn't wait to give hell to the loser of the match.
"Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnigan!" Seamus got a huge roar again, but no one seriously thought he had any real shot at Hermione.
"Match three is Mark Evans vs. Neville Longbottom!" The crowd erupted at Mark's name, he was now everyone's favorite. Harry gave Mark a grin, but knew that he was no match for Neville.
"And the final match will be Padma Patil and Marcus Owen!" The crowd cheered loudly again, all wanting to see a non-DA member go far, Ron it seemed, was one of only a very few cheering for Padma.
The next day all the buzz was about the duel the night before, all the teachers, even Snape, Harry had heard, had stopped giving out homework in anticipation of the tournament. A pool had started as well, giving the odds on the winner. Hermione was ranked 1, with a 3:2 shot, then Marcus at 1:2, followed by Neville, Ginny, Seamus, Dean, Padma, and finally Mark. Everyone loved Mark, he had now become pretty much the most popular kid in the school although he was still in his first year, but no one really thought he had a shot of winning, and privately, Harry agreed with them.
Finally the semi's had come, and now nearly the entire school, save only a select few upper year Slytherin's (Malfoy for one), were in attendance.
Ginny and Dean started the night off, and Dean was just another tally on the bat-bogey knock out chart.
Seamus was handled pretty well by Hermione, whom used a brilliant combo of an impediment jinx and levitation charm to put Seamus out of the running.
Mark Evans lost to Neville, everyone was sad to see him go, but they had expected no less, Neville was no longer the clumsy, accident prone kid he had been in first year.
The shocker of the day was when Padma Patil managed to use a brilliant fire spell, which caught Owen's robes on fire, and then hit him with a stunning spell in his confusion. After she politely put out the fire with a wave of her own wand, she grinned at Harry and her sister, then ran to Ron and planted a huge kiss right on his mouth.
Harry grinned and addressed the crowd. "Well as soon as Ron and Padma stop lip-locking I will read the matches for next week!"
The Great Hall erupted in laughter and Ron and Padma broke apart, blushing.
"Next week the first match will be Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley!" The crowd exploded, all highly anticipating the match, wondering if Hermione could overcome the bat-bogey hex.
"And the other match will be Padma Patil and Neville Longbottom!" The crowd screamed with delight, now that Mark and Marcus were out, Padma was everyone's favorite underdog to win the tournament.
The next week had continued like the last, everyone murmuring and whispering excitedly, the remaining four champions, Hermione, Neville, Padma, and Ginny, were treated like gods, unable to almost ever have a moment of solitude.
Finally the semi final day had come, and it seemed that every student in the school had turned out for the duels, only Malfoy, Crabbe, Bulstrode, Parkinson, and Goyle staying behind.
Harry was very surprised to see Theodore Nott in attendance at well, but he ignored it.
The first match got under way, and immediately Ginny used her bat-bogey hex, but Hermione muttered the counter curse, no doubt she had found it in the library, and dominated the match from there. Finally, with an unexpected, "Expelliarmus!" Ginny's wand went flying and Hermione turned and beamed at Harry, as she had won. Then she ran up to him and kissed him full on the mouth, to which Seamus exclaimed loudly," I wonder who she's been sleeping with to advance in the tournament?"
The crowd exploded in laughter, even the teachers joined in, all of them being present except for Binns and Snape. Harry and Hermione just laughed and got ready for the next match. This duel wasn't quite as exciting, as Neville had disarmed and stunned Padma within thirty seconds. She left the dueling ground shrugging, and took Ron's hand and they walked off together.
"Next week," Harry bellowed for all to hear. "Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger will battle for the championship!" The crowd boomed and slowly filed out, leaving only Harry and a very nervous looking Theodore Nott.
"Umm, Harry," Nott started. "I'm sorry Harry, I-I didn't know my father was a death eater. I thought you were making it up. My mum told me he had gone on a long business trip and that's why he hadn't been home in a while, but I overheard Malfoy talking about it a few days ago and got an owl today saying my dad was back, so then I knew."
With this Nott nodded and left the room, leaving a very surprised yet apprehensive Harry behind. He wasn't sure whether or not Theodore was being truthful.
The next week the Great Hall was filled once again with nearly the whole school, Seamus was allowed to introduce the duelers.
"And here she comes now ladies and gentlemen, Harry Potter's girlfriend," McGonogall gave him an evil stare. "Hermione Granger!" Hermione beamed at the applause she received and gave Harry a thumbs up, which he returned.
"And now our favorite Gryffindor beater, Neville Longbottom!" Neville came onto the floor, beaming at all the applause.
The battle was easily the best of the tournament. Both Neville and Hermione were excellent at the shield charm, so neither could get a spell to work. After what seemed like hours, Hermione wowed the crowed when she yelled, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" And a silvery white otter flew out of her wand. Harry grinned, realizing what she was going to do.
Neville was so dumbfounded at the sight of the otter that he let his guard down, and Hermione got him square in the chest with a simple stunner spell.
"And our winner is the brilliant HERMIONE GRANGER!" Seamus boomed over the speaker, the crowd cheered loudly.
"And now the moment you've all been waiting for," Seamus boomed again, the crowd fell to a hush. Harry grinned, no one outside of the professors and the DA knew that the winner would be battling Harry.
"Hermione gets her prize! She will now duel none other than her own boyfriend Harry Potter!"
A/N:
Hmm, an idea struck me while writing this for writing a fic entirely about a Hogwarts dueling tournament, staring with the knock-out round and going through the round of sixteen, quarter finals, semi's, and finally the final and consolation match.
Would anybody be interested in reading a fic like that? If I did it it wouldn't start for a long while, but I think it could be interesting.
Let me know what you think.
Sora