CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A/N - Not much to say here other than - FIGHT! Oh, and if the proceedings seem eerily reminiscent of the lightsaber duel at the end of Star Wars Episode 3, then you're pretty much right on the money. I thought it would work well here. Enjoy, and please review!
David Adams circled Tonks, watching her wand-arm carefully some twenty metres away across the Great Hall. The House tables had been magically removed for the course of this demonstration, leaving them a wide open area with which to demonstrate David's seemingly-unique techniques and abilities before the Ministry's congregation. They sat at the raised teacher's table at the front of the hall, watching with an interest that they could not fully mask behind a visage of objectivity. David had noticed how they, even the Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour himself in Professor McGonagall's usual seat, had left Professor Dumbledore's old `throne' empty, somewhat tactfully. Hugging the sides of the Great Hall, a collection of some fifty or so interested students, reporters and staff watched.
Tonks raised her arm in a practised flash and shot a red-hued jinx from her wand-tip, straight at David. Instantly fast, David leaned his torso back, throwing his hands behind him and down towards the floor. As the jinx shot over his head, he found himself looking up at the ceiling, leaning back to an impossible extent, his torso at a 90-degree angle to his legs. Yet the Repelling Charm he had shot at the floor, through wandless magic, had kept him from losing his balance.
Carefully straightening himself, David registered the small round of applause and watched Tonks again as she faced him and the Ministry onlookers behind. Again in the flash of an eye, she raised and fired a jinx straight at David's chest. With a picture-perfect, impossibly fast Dagonet Leap, David jumped and flipped right over her, landing behind Tonks and holding his wand to her head within two seconds.
The next, slightly louder round of applause drowned out the running footsteps coming from outside the Great Hall, approaching fast…
David turned to face the Minister and his cohorts, "That's covered just about everything I know about evasive techniques. I'm now gonna move on and show you some…"
The Minister's eyes shot up, above David's head, and his face froze in shock; so did the others.
An instant later, David sensed it too…
Harry Potter had burst into the Great Hall, and in an instant jumped and leapt forward, covering the long distance at a great height and bearing down on his target, rage in his eyes and wand in his hand, ready to land right on top of David and curse him into oblivion…
David quickly dropped his wand and leaned his torso back again, bringing up his arms. He caught Harry's outstretched wand arm and flipped it over, sending Harry crashing down to the floor some ten metres in front of him, skidding to a halt just in front of the Ministry officials. Every onlooker was silent in shock; even Hagrid, watching off to the left with a sudden look of grave concern.
"Potter what the hell are you playing at?" David said in a low, threatening voice, pacing towards him slowly.
Harry hurriedly got to his feet, straightening himself and glaring back at David, "WHAT THE HELL DOES IT LOOK LIKE?!" He shouted.
"It was an ACCIDENT!" David said, his voice raising to a shout. Only a handful of the onlookers knew what either of them were talking about, but that wasn't exactly something either Harry or David were caring about at the minute.
"BOLLOCKS!" Harry shouted, "I KNOW A COWARD WHEN I SEE ONE! YOU WANT TO HURT MY FRIENDS TO GET TO ME!"
"WHAT?" David spat out, incredulously.
Rufus Scrimgeour stood up, "I think we'd all better calm down here…"
Harry drowned him out, no longer shouting but talking in a dark, angry tone that offered the Minister no chance to speak over, "I am sick and tired of you and your attitude, Adams. You think you're more worthy to take on Voldemort than me…"
"That's rubbish," David answered resentfully.
"Is it?" Harry taunted, "Remember, I've read your mind! You don't think I stand a chance!"
The searing flash of anger in David's eyes betrayed the truth in Harry's accusation. He shook his head slowly, "You're playing right into his hands, Potter. This is exactly what he'd want."
"Oh yeah, and what's that?"
"The two best wizards of our generation fighting each other," David responded.
"Oh, so now we're the best?" Harry egged on, blinded by his anger, "Last time I checked, I was the unlucky god-damned Chosen One, and you…you were nothing."
David's face tightened in anger, "Don't push it, Potter…"
"No-one hurts my friends and gets away with it," Harry seethed, "I don't care who they are."
David stood his ground stoically.
"I'm challenging you to a duel," Harry finished.
"Now, see here!" Scrimgeour interjected, speaking over the collected gasps that rang out from the onlookers to the sides, "There'll be no duelling today, now let's all…"
"Too late, Minister," David interrupted, his hazel eyes locked against Harry's, "He's made the challenge."
Harry knew the old rules of form for magical duels as well as David did; once the challenge was made, it had to be accepted, or the challenged party was a coward. It wasn't a form of combat entered upon lightly, either; it was usually a case of life and death.
"Fine," David answered, nodding his head, "I'll try not to hurt you too bad."
Harry grabbed his wand from the floor and stepped back a few paces as David unzipped and threw off his denim jacket, taking his wand out of the back pocket of his jeans.
Slowly, they began to circle each other, across a wide circumference some fifteen metres apart. The grave silence in the room lent itself into the growing tension building between the two would-be combatants. Their eyes were locked, full of anger and resentment.
Harry watched David's eyes, his arms, forcing his mind to process whatever was left to discover of David's memories…
David watched Harry's eyes, his arms, relying on all the training he had received from the Ministry, on all the self-learning he had put himself through, trying to figure out how far Harry could come in only a few days…
I know everything he knows…
How much has he learnt…?
They both stopped their pacing, standing facing each other from the opposite sides, Harry facing the teacher's table beyond David. Following ritual, they both raised their wands to their faces in salute, then slowly turned around, away from each other. Harry turned to face the entrance to the Great Hall…and his heart almost stopped.
Hermione was there, staggering unsteadily and supported by Ron. The unmistakable look of fear on her face, as her eyes found his, told Harry that she already knew exactly what had happened…and was about to.
Don't…Harry could swear he could hear Hermione's voice in his head, trying to pull him back from the edge.
Harry shook his head slightly; Not this time…
Harry leapt up and back, flipping and twisting in mid-air, pulling out his wand and flashing his green wand-blade to life. David spun around to meet Harry as he came to land, his blue blade igniting in an instant. Both blades met as Harry landed, crashing together and bouncing apart as Harry began to force David back, chopping down at his sides with amazing speed, David reacting with the same swift ferocity, blocking and parrying.
The duel was on…
Harry chopped and slashed and swung, and David allowed himself to be pushed back, adopting the defensive, weaving and blocking and parrying each of Harry's strikes with only mere milliseconds to position himself in time for the next blow. Their blades formed an intricate light show around them as David forced Harry to over-extend himself, throwing a few counter-swings and forcing a turn to the left, right in front of the teacher's table. Harry blocked the strikes with the same precision and style, creating an opening with which to land a solid kick to David's upper chest, launching him up and back.
David smoothly flipped over in the air and landed on his feet, turning and backtracking more rapidly towards the entrance. Harry pressed forward again, spinning and slashing at David's mid-section to try and catch him off-balance; once, twice, three times, before facing him head-on, cutting and stabbing at David's chest, spinning furiously, spinning his blade around his back to try and catch his opponent. But David was too smart, too disciplined to do anything but block and parry at this point. Harry sensed this, and at the same time felt a roaring sense of pride, an astonishment at his new-found abilities. He could visualise every attack in his head before it happened, and hundreds more possibilities after that. It felt…good.
David caught Harry's down-swinging blade with his own, forcing a quick deadlock with which to spin Harry's blade down and away, swinging across his waist, which Harry was forced to jump backwards. With that, David pressed forward, attacking for the first time. David's attacks were more precise, more artistic than Harry's, but he was still able to block and counter, gathering more and more confidence. The snaps and hisses and crashes of their reacting blades made the only sounds in the Hall, the onlookers in stunned silence.
David caught Harry with an open-handed chop across the neck, staggering him back. The Auror then closed his eyes for the merest half-second, concentrating intensely and then waving his hand across the air to his side. The Gryffindor house table suddenly Apparated into the Great Hall; before Harry could process this new development, David had jumped straight up onto the table. Acting on pure instinct, Harry followed, not allowing David one second to regroup.
Harry jumped some seven or eight feet and landed right in front of David, taking the attack to him once more. David was briefly forced back, then countered with a downward overhead swing and forced Harry back. Along the narrow, polished wooden table, positioning and balance and footing was so much more important. David found the room to spin around Harry's attacks, dodging and bringing his blade to protect his back as he moved, catching several of Harry's strikes on blind reckoning. They fought back and forth, each looking for the opening…
Gotcha!
David swung in wildly from the left ferociously, forcing Harry to block to his right at distance to prevent the power of the blow from crashing into his body. But in doing so, Harry knew he had overextended. David accepted the block and then in a flash brought his blade down and up, crashing into Harry's blade before he had the chance to move his arms, knocking Harry's wand up into the air and away to the ground. Without a second's pause, David surged forward and attempted to sweep out Harry's feet, his blade at Harry's neck, trying to force him down onto the table…
It was the only way to win a duel without death; force your opponent's shoulders to the ground, so that they could not escape and would have no choice but to surrender.
Harry's body trembled against David's stronger arms, forcing him lower and lower…
In desperation, Harry kicked up with his right leg, striking David across the back and sending him tumbling over. Harry lay flat against the table as David rolled over and came up, wand-blade held down and away in his right hand. Harry ran forward and leapt, landing a dropkick against David's chest before he could bring his blade to bear. David fell back and down, his own wand flying wildly away, the blade vanishing with a hiss.
Not stopping to consider anything else, Harry sprung up from his prone position and charged forward, with the intent of beating David to a pulp. But the Auror was quicker; he nipped up straight to his feet and swept Harry's feet away with a low kick, knocking him down to the table with a crash. Standing over him, David raised his outstretched right hand; from across the Great Hall, his wand flew across to him. Sensing what was coming, Harry held out his own hand and closed his eyes, focussing; Accio wand!
David caught his wand and flashed the blue blade on again, bringing it up to swing down at Harry. In the nick of time, Harry caught his own wand and the blade came to life, blocking David's wild swing. Harry swung out at David's legs, forcing him to leap sideways, off the table and to the ground.
Harry jumped up to his feet and leapt at David wildly beneath him, who shoulder-rolled forward and evaded. They came together on the floor of the Great Hall, striking and swinging and blocking anew, David flipping over Harry's head to force the change in perspective. Both sensed that this was it…
No more backing down.
Both men stood their ground, swinging and parrying, neither David or Harry willing to budge an inch. They both took a half-step closer to each other, still throwing attacks at each other's heads, arms, legs. Yet neither relented, and their attacks only got faster and faster, a dizzying kaleidoscope of flashing, dancing green and blue light around them. They both drew reserves of strength that they didn't know existed, their eyes locked on each other's…
They stepped even closer together, chopping down at each other's sides, by now too close to generate enough power or momentum to land the final blow. David broke off first, spinning his blade impossibly fast over his head, around his back, across his front, generating enough speed and momentum. Harry did the same, trying to find the opening in David's dizzying green maze of defence…
…until they both swung at the same time.
David's and Harry's blades caught each other and locked together. With all of their strength, the combatants tried to force a break, but they were deadlocked fast. David moved first, Harry a split-second later, drawing their left hands back, as if winding back for a great killer punch…
…but their Repelling Charms were of equal speed and power.
Between their outstretched left hands, and their deadlocked blades, a great invisible wall of magical energy began to form, and gather pace and speed, like a tornado. The wind on Harry's and David's heads began to whip against the wind, their teeth gritted in intense concentration. Neither one of them would relent…
That mini-tornado became visible; a mass of faintly green-and-blue-tinted energies rolling around each other, clashing and striking, growing larger and more violent, like a great bubble ready to burst. In horror, all eyes in the Hall were drawn to it…until it burst.
The energy `bubble' exploded outward, and both Harry and David shot backwards, dropping their wands to the floor. With the speed of a bullet, both were thrown straight back across the Hall. David shot back over the teacher's table and crashed into the stained glass behind it, falling to the ground unconscious, at the same time as Harry struck the brick wall beside the main entrance.
With an echoing, sickening thud, the back of Harry's head slammed against the brick, followed by his upper back. Darkness tool him immediately as he fell to the ground, leaving a thick trail of blood down the wall, as David's had stained the shattered glass.
One, two seconds of silence…
"NNOOOO!" Hermione screamed, as suddenly the onlookers snapped to their senses. They rushed forward towards the downed combatants; the Ministry officials kneeling down over David's body frantically, checking for life. Many of the Hogwarts students ran towards Harry. Hagrid reached him first, scooping his limp, lifeless body up, "OUTTA MY WAY!" Hagrid ran towards the entrance, making for the hospital wing with all speed, followed closely by a group of students carrying David's body.
All Hermione could do to block out the horror was break down and cry on Ron's shoulder.
Please…please don't let them die!
-->