Show-Offs – Pt. 2/2
Harry and Draco emerged from the forest and stepped into a wide clearing. This had to be the place where the army of golems was stationed, guarding the eggs.
They had entered from different points, but spotted each other almost immediately. They exchanged a brief nod before turning their attention toward the center of the clearing.
"You're late," Luciel said.
He was sitting atop what looked like a genuine mountain of golem corpses of all kinds, wearing that familiar smile of his.
Harry looked at him for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the shattered golems beneath him and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"A monster, as always," Draco remarked as he approached with complete calm.
"I'll take that as a compliment. I never stop training. After all, I'm always keeping an eye on the safety of the people I care about," Luciel replied with a soft smile.
"That's true. Then we're still pretty much in sync, as always," Harry said with a faint smile.
His gaze drifted to the eggs arranged in a circle around Luciel. Just as Sirius had said, there were three resting on red pedestals, two on yellow ones, and a single egg atop the only green pedestal. That likely represented the supposed difficulty of each opponent in the second trial.
Footsteps echoed from the forest. The three of them turned at the same time and saw Victor and Marton emerge. Their clothes were slightly disheveled, though they bore no visible injuries, only signs of exhaustion. Victor quickly composed himself upon noticing the others, and Marton followed suit almost immediately.
"Hm. Looks like you got here first," Victor said, though his eyes flicked quickly toward the eggs, confirming that none had been taken yet. He then looked back at the group. "So that just leaves one champion," he added, sounding relieved that he was not the last.
"Victor, we should grab the green egg right away to secure the next trial," Marton whispered urgently.
Victor looked at him as if he were an idiot. His eyes swept over the three boys in front of them, who did not look tired or disheveled in the slightest. If anything, they appeared calm, sharp, and completely in control.
"Shut up," Victor replied coldly. "Didn't you hear that Beauxbatons and Hogwarts seem to have some kind of understanding? You want to take on all three when you can barely stay on your feet?"
"But the newspaper said they were romantic rivals. If we can…"
"Shut up," Victor repeated, his gaze turning even colder. As if mentioning the newspaper in front of him was something he deeply despised. "Don't believe every stupid thing those disgusting reporters make up."
He then walked toward the other champions.
"So. Have you decided which eggs you're taking?" Victor asked, his expression calm, though a hint of nervousness crept into his tone.
"Well, I don't really mind. I could take a red one if it's more exciting," Luciel said casually, hopping down from the pile of corpses.
"Is that so? And you two?" Victor asked, looking at Draco and Harry. After all, there were only two yellow eggs and one green left. Securing a yellow one would not be a bad option.
"Red is my favorite color," Harry said calmly.
"Then I'll take the other red one," Draco added, looking at Harry with that competitive expression that made it clear they were still competing to see who was better.
Victor almost looked happy when he heard that.
"Then the green…"
"As gentlemen, we should leave it to the only lady competing, don't you think?" Luciel cut in quickly.
"I suppose that makes sense. We wouldn't want her to die too easily. That would make our school look bad," Draco added.
"Hm. I don't really care," Harry said indifferently.
"Told you," Marton muttered quickly to Victor, earning a sharp look that made him shut his mouth at once.
"I see. Then we have no issue taking the yellow ones," Victor said, nodding. It was not a bad outcome after all.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Before they could take another step, rhythmic tremors began to approach, heavy and deliberate, like massive footsteps. Everyone turned at once to see where they were coming from.
That was when they saw the trees parting as something enormous advanced straight toward them.
Suddenly, someone burst out of the forest at full speed. It was Fleur, visibly agitated, sweat running down her face, her expression tense. When she saw them, she seemed relieved for a brief instant.
"Fleur?" Luciel asked as he recognized her, stepping forward slightly.
She accelerated straight toward him. Luciel frowned, confused as she ran directly at him, but at the last second Fleur dashed past his side without stopping. She went straight for the green pedestal, grabbed the egg, and then ran toward a nearby tree, hiding behind it.
That earned her a round of utterly confused looks from all the boys present.
"I'll leave them to you, boys," she said with a charming smile… and just a hint of malice.
"Them?" Harry murmured before turning around.
From between the trees, two enormous golems emerged, clearly having been tailing Fleur. One carried two half-shields that, when joined, formed a single massive shield. Its body was covered in thick, heavy armor.
The other was different from the rest of the guardians. A silvery glow emanated from within, as if an inner fire coursed through its body in the form of magical veins.
It carried no weapons, but each step it took caused the ground around it to rise and tremble slightly.
"I think your cousin is getting pretty bold," Draco commented, glancing at Luciel as he observed the enemies Fleur had brought along.
"Typical villain behavior," Harry added with an amused grimace.
"Well… sorry about that," Luciel said, studying the two golems carefully, especially the one that looked different. "But I think it's because she's spending a bit too much time with your friends."
The golem, as if eager to prove why it was special, lifted one of its feet. Its body began to glow more intensely, the magical veins running through its structure flaring brightly, before it slammed its foot down, making the surroundings quake.
But that was not all.
The stone in front of it rose in a perfect line and surged directly toward them.
All five of them had to leap in different directions to avoid the attack.
Immediately, the shield-bearing golem brought both halves together, forming the massive shield in full, and began charging straight toward them like a runaway truck intent on crushing everything in its path.
Harry watched it and, without wasting a second, pulled a sphere from his pocket and hurled it directly into the golem's path.
The impact against the shield triggered a powerful explosion that halted its advance, though it did little real damage to the defense.
The shield split apart again, revealing the golem, which lifted one of the halves and swung it like a weapon, striking straight toward Luciel.
Luciel ducked under the blow, hearing the explosion crash behind his back as he sprinted straight for the golem's legs, both swords ready to strike.
Before he could take another step, the stones rose once more in a straight line in front of him.
He was forced to leap backward to avoid them.
That opening allowed the shield golem to launch another attack. At that exact moment, a sphere flew straight into its face and detonated instantly, forcing it to stagger back a step, though it still took little damage.
"Ready?" Harry asked, holding several more spheres in his hand, prepared to throw them, as he looked at Draco.
Draco nodded.
Above his head, a massive golden spear began to form, drawn from the gold coins scattered across the ground. Draco pointed his wand at the shield golem.
The spear shot straight toward its chest.
The golem reacted quickly, snapping both shields together to defend itself. The spear's tip lodged perfectly at the joint between them, stopping there.
Then several spheres flew straight at the spear's shaft and exploded on impact, forcing the weapon through the golem's defense at last.
Meanwhile, Luciel was already charging toward the other golem, his expression completely serious, both swords held at his sides as he dodged the stomps that sent the ground surging upward with every step.
"Fleur, stop messing around!" Luciel shouted as he closed the distance.
Fleur emerged from behind the tree where she had been hiding, wand in hand, pointing directly at the golem Luciel was engaging.
"Reducto, Bombarda, Aguamenti, Confringo, Diffindo, Periculum."
Like a magical turret, Fleur unleashed spells in an incredibly rapid succession, each one different in nature, all aimed at the golem's head. They were not meant to damage it directly, but to distract it and block its vision.
Luciel took advantage of the opening.
He leapt onto one of the golem's legs and drove both swords in. One of them, his wand, barely pierced the metal when Luciel shouted:
"Fiendfyre."
Violent flames erupted from inside the leg, pouring through the wound and spreading rapidly. The red glow of the fire raced through the golem's magical veins, climbing upward as the metal began to melt from the inside.
Even so, the golem did not stop. It swung a massive arm at Luciel, who kicked off the ground and hurled himself backward at the last instant, narrowly avoiding the blow.
Luciel watched as the golem struggled to stay upright. One of its legs was completely ruined from the inside, half-melted by the curse of the cursed fire.
The flames continued to devour it from within, consuming the magic the golem used as fuel.
Its body ignited almost immediately, yet it still staggered forward toward Luciel.
Suddenly, golden chains burst from the ground and wrapped around the golem. Though they melted under the intense heat, they reformed just as quickly. At the same time, dozens of spheres flew into its chest and detonated in rapid succession, blasting it backward into the trees, where it crashed onto its back.
The golem tried to rise one final time, but the internal damage was already too severe. Flames poured out from its body and began spreading toward the nearby trees.
Luciel raised his wand-sword and pointed it directly at the fire. He let out a sharp breath as he focused, his face completely serious, his eyes never leaving the flames.
Slowly, the fire began to collapse in on itself until it was fully extinguished.
Once he was certain it was gone and fully under control, Luciel released a calmer breath.
"Fuuu. And that's why I always save all my magic for the end," he said with a smile, though he looked slightly pale from the massive magical drain that spell, and its control, had required. Something that would be extremely difficult even for seasoned adult wizards.
Victor and Marton could not help but feel uneasy. Both of them were already severely drained of magic from their path through the trial. Casting even a single additional spell would likely knock them out of the fight. That was why they had not been able to assist.
Victor adopted a serious, faintly competitive expression as he nodded toward the other champions, as if he were finally acknowledging them as truly dangerous rivals.
"Ahh. That really wore me out," Fleur said, physically exhausted from all the running, as she approached the group once more.
She pulled out her wand and transformed the pedestal that had held her egg into a bright green seat, flashy and unmistakably feminine.
Harry and Draco looked at her with mild amusement, while Luciel kept a faint smile.
Draco walked over to one of the red pedestals and picked up the egg. He studied the pedestal for a moment, then glanced at the gold still scattered across the field. With a wave of his wand, all the gold gathered together and reshaped itself into a fully golden throne.
He sat down beside the pedestal. A golden crown formed atop his head as he assumed the arrogant posture of a noble, looking at Luciel and Harry with clear superiority.
Harry watched him, then picked up the other red egg and snapped his fingers. A scarlet throne formed at his side. His hair took on a faint reddish hue, a crown formed on its own, and his eyes shimmered with a mix of red and green as he sat down, his gaze cold.
"Haha. I like your style," Luciel said, amused. "I don't have much magic left, but…"
He pointed toward the mountain of golems, which lifted into the air and reshaped itself as it flew toward him, forming a silver throne with swords embedded all around it. He picked up the final red egg and sat down with a grin.
Victor and Marton, lacking the magic to imitate any of that, simply took their yellow eggs.
Then sparks shot up into the sky, and the roar of the stands echoed across the clearing.
Above all else, the three champions seated on thrones of different colors drew the most attention, earning a wave of cheers and excitement.
Daphne looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back at Daphne.
Both let out a small sigh.
"Show-offs," they said in unison.