The second week, they all began adding the disillusionment to their arsenal in duelling practice. Hermione, Neville, and Luna would hide in various places around the Room of Requirement, under disillusionment spells. Since Neville and Luna were already getting the hang of silent spellcasting with the most basic, first-year spells, they would silently cast simple jinxes at Harry, who now had to be far more aware of his surroundings. In exchange, Harry practiced his own disillusionment, attempting to take out all three of them while hiding as best he could. By the end of the week, he could cast a good disillusionment if he stood still while casting it, but it would fade quickly if he moved. Unfortunately, that was of little use for a duel, and he didn't want to wreck his invisibility cloak for such a small advantage. He wouldn't be able to make use of it for the upcoming Trial of Champions, but he knew it would be useful in the future, so all of them continued to practice it.
Moody was pleased with his progress by the second Saturday, and each one of them got some practice running into the forest and attempting to hide while the others searched. They were expected to try to take down the other three training partners by hitting them from behind, if they were hidden well enough. The others, of course, were practicing spotting them and staying on their toes. Hermione and Luna both managed to get everyone- Hermione because of her proficiency with spellwork, and Luna because of her creativity. She seemed to enjoy climbing trees, apparently. Harry managed to stun Hermione and Neville, but failed to look up. Neville only managed to stun Hermione before Harry leapt to her defense, and stunned Neville in exchange. Moody was watching everyone the whole time, and thanked Luna for reminding everyone that danger didn't always come from ground level.
The final days before the duel, the four of them started practicing formal duels. Each evening, Harry would fight a duel between Hermione, Luna, and Neville in succession, since he would have to face three powerful opponents in one day. Hermione made sure he followed the rules properly- the proper greetings, the proper way to concede defeat and accept victory, and so on. They also practiced as much as they could from the second duelling book they bought in the summer, trying to tie a few basic strings of spells together. To present Harry with more of a challenge, Hermione managed to get a pair of the pink, fuzzy earmuffs from Professor Sprout so Harry wouldn't be able to hear what they were casting. Harry, on the other hand, had to cast all his spells silently. This helped Neville and Luna especially, who were still practicing silent casting and could put more power into the spells when the said the incantations. Harry was still able to practice his Legilimency, and while Luna was as hard to read as ever, he still managed to glimpse what spell Neville intended just before he cast it. Hermione, however, could duel Harry on even ground. Harry had more power behind his spells, and he did have better reaction times, but Hermione had what seemed like an unlimited repertoire of spells to use. Her occlumency was near perfect, and Harry couldn't afford to spend any more of his attention in breaking it while he was dealing with all the spells she threw at him. Harry ended up spending a lot of time dodging her spells whenever he wasn't sure what it would do.
On Friday evening, they finished a bit earlier to make sure Harry would have enough rest for tomorrow. Neville and Luna waved goodbye as they left, leaving Harry and Hermione to relax on the soft and cushiony spectator seats in the Room of Requirement's duelling chamber. Hermione once again got him to lay down as she gave him a massage, "to work out the lactic acid, of course." Whatever the reason, Harry didn't need to be asked twice.
"Are you ready for tomorrow, Harry?"
"As ready as I'll ever be... which really doesn't say much, I think."
"Oh, come on. You've gone through this several times before. Even if you don't have the exact memories, you still have the instincts drilled into you, don't you?"
"I hope so. The problem is I can never seem to depend on them. They're more of a reflex- if it happens, it happens. At least if I do poorly, we can always go back and try again..." Harry laughed.
"Harry, we are NOT going back in time just so you can do better in a silly tournament!" Hermione gave him a hard slap on the back.
"Ow! Hermione, I was just joking!" Harry squirmed underneath her.
"I know. And this is a perfectly legitimate massage technique," she said as she slapped him again. "Stay still."
"You know, you should fight the duels in my place. You'd probably do better than I would. Would you like to take my job?"
"Do you mean your job as a Triwizard champion, or as the Boy-Who-Lived?" Hermione giggled.
"Both, if you're willing."
"Turn over," commanded Hermione, as she began to work on Harry's arms and chest. Looking straight at his eyes, she asked, "What makes you think I'd be any good at what you do?"
With his free arm, Harry caressed Hermione's cheek. "You mean other than the fact that I'd be nothing without you?"
"What? You can't possibly mean-" Harry put a finger on her lips.
"Let's see, shall we? I'm a pretty average student, but studying with you puts me above average. You figured out the puzzles to the Philosopher's Stone first year. You figured out the basilisk in second year. You had the time-turner in third year. You're teaching me everything I need to know this year."
"That's... but... you probably could have done it yourself if..." Hermione stammered. She stopped rubbing his arm, so Harry took both of her hands in his.
"That's not all, Hermione. That's barely scratching the surface. You don't just help me learn or give me knowledge. You give me something to look forward to every year."
"What? Harry, surely there's plenty of other things..."
"I do, Hermione. You're the reason I put up with all this stupid Boy-Who-Lived crap. I don't have a home or a family. The Dursleys don't count. When I finally managed to get away from them in first year, I loved Hogwarts, and this became my new home. When I became friends with you, you became... the closest thing to family I have. This past summer was the best one I ever had, Hermione. Obviously the magical world isn't all cupcakes and flowers. There's a crazy half-dead guy trying to kill me. I don't have many friends who like me for myself. I... well... Fleur kind of explained this to me, but I realized it's hard to figure out who likes me for who I am instead of who they think I am."
.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/madarasama125🎉