FicWad

Harry Potter and the Celestial Zone
Chapter 16
09th August 2005


Dumbledore and the other professors put up the various spectator stands and dueling arena requirements, finishing just as the Minister for Magic in Britain strolled in, "Today we are pleased to welcome delegates from several countries. Firstly we have our own Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, as well as the Ministers from France, Germany, Poland, Russia, and Bulgaria. The Ministers will join our own Head of Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Amelia Bones, on as panel of 7 judging this match."

Minerva McGonagall stepped forward, "The first round will begin in half an hour; will the contestants please step forward? Everyone else, please find your seats 5 minutes before the match." Harry gave Hermione a last kiss and pat on the rear before moving to where McGonagall stood; not too far away, Blaise broke away from the Slytherians and moved towards McGonagall. Standing not too far away, the Russian Minister for Magic noticed their confident, graceful motions and correctly identified they were highly advanced Martial Artists.

Other foreign guests arrived too, Victor Krum and several teammates, Fleur Delacour and her family, among others. Victor immediately moved toward Hermione, who brushed him off saying she needed the toilet. Ron noticed from the refreshments table and nearly busted a gut laughing.

...

Minerva waited till she had some privacy with the two contestants, "Now you two, this is the final, so please, no foul play. We want to maintain a good reputation with other countries; any changes to the rules?" Harry shrugged, "Anything's fine Professor. Xuan?" Blaise raised an eyebrow, "To the death then, Green Dragon, you shall taste the power of the Celestial Demon sect." Harry laughed, "We shall see old gal, Xue We was rather upset, as I'm sure you know, so forgive any ruthlessness."

Minerva stepped in; she didn't know who 'Xuan' was, but Harry was obviously referring to Blaise, "If that's all please go to your places and prepare. I will announce it when the time is right." Harry and Blaise nodded and moved to their sides of the arena. Harry noticed Victor Krum trying to get Hermione's undivided attention, and was inordinately pleased when she brushed him off and moved toward him. He grinned when Victor followed; Hermione raised an eyebrow and chuckled when she glanced over her shoulder.

They moved to a nearby window and looked out; there were still 10 or so minutes till the match started, "You ready Harry?" Harry didn't answer right away; he'd normally have said he was fine, that she didn't have to worry about him so much, but he was different now; his summer in Celestial Dragon Cavern had brought him into much closer contact with himself. This was a fight to the death, and Hermione knew it too; he sighed and wrapped his arms around her, "I'll be alright sweet heart, I doubt she can beat me, and she's already far too secure in the idea of her indestructibility. Either way, I have something to live for, so I can't die."

She smiled at him, turning round in his arms and kissing him squarely on the mouth, "You still haven't answered my question, love, are you ready?" He sighed and closed his eyes, "No I'm not, but I haven't a choice." He paused and pulled her closer, "It's nearly time, I have to go." He kissed her one last time and moved away, absently noticing that Victor had a murderous look on. Hermione moved to a seat among the Weasleys to watch Harry.

...

Minerva McGonagall moved to the centre of the arena while Harry and Blaise stood, watching each other carefully. The Transfiguration professor glanced around, "the duel between Harry Potter and Blaise Zabini will begin shortly; the new duel rules have been agreed on by both sides. This will be a duel to the death, with no holds barred on the method. Contestants you may begin when the feather touches to ground." She conjured a pale yellow feather and portkeyed away; Harry locked eyes with Blaise, "Xuan Mao or the Pan Gu Hun Yuan Dictum, you defied your master and allied yourself with a demonic, evil power. As heir to the title of Green Dragon, I will destroy you utterly today."

Blaise laughed cruelly, "Harry Potter, heir of Green Dragon, I, Xuan Mao of the Celestial Demon sect, accept your challenge and agree that you will be totally destroyed this day." The spectators all gasped in fear as the air suddenly seemed to tremble with power; Molly Weasley paled and trembled as both Celestial Heirs powered up the Spirit Weapons. Hermione's eyes grew wide as Harry's mark on his forehead changed while a different mark formed on Blaise's forehead. Then the feather hit the ground.

Both exploded into action; Xuan flew at Harry while Harry's eyes blazed. Xuan grinned evilly, "Electra Grid of the Demonic Vault!" Harry frowned, "Solar Shock of the Blazing Sun, level 5!" the two clashed and flew apart, both hitting their ends of the arena while their swords flew out of their hands. Xuan slowly got to her feat and recalled her sword while Harry recalled his; she glared at him, "So you've mastered the Blazing Sun formula. Then I will up the ante too! Yuan Yin Moon Shadow Dictum, Shadow Sword Strike!" Harry's eyes widened at this and Hermione gasped; his eyes narrowed as he saw the strike clearly, "Blazing Sun Formula, level 6! Blazing Energy!" It was a derivative of the Celestial Dragon Dipper.

Xuan's sword glanced off Harry's shield and he didn't waste a second, "Holy Dragon Thunder Blast revised! Blazing Dragon Thunder Flame!" this time Xuan was totally unprepared and took the hit to the chest; to her credit she tried to counter, "Electra Slice of the Demonic Vault!" she dispersed some of Harry's strike, but not enough; when the dust and smoke cleared, Harry was floating a foot above the ground several feet away from Xuan while she was on her knees in the centre of an enormous crater, coughing up blood.

Harry glared at her, waiting for her to recover, which she eventually did. Harry glared harder, "you wish to continue?" Xuan called out her Spirit Sword and took a stance. Harry nodded, "Good, then we continue." Xuan rushed him again, "Demonic Vault's Flaming Heaven's Arch!" Harry frowned at this; the Heaven's arch was a Dream skill, powerful but not the closest to the Dictum, "Celestial Dragon Thunder Flame revised! Solar Shock Thunder Dragon Blast!" Xuan's eyes widened in horror before she closed her eyes tight and took the blast as best she could.

The result was incredible; Xing Yun would have been proud, Le Tian would have been awed, and Chi Xue's eyes would probably have narrowed; Xuan was flung backwards into the shields that surrounded the arena, stopping with a loud, but dull, thud. The floor of the arena was a different matter though; Harry now stood in the middle of a picture of a winding dragon, gouged out of the floor of the Great Hall cum Arena, with the head pointed towards where Xuan was now regaining her feet.

Both combatants paused, glaring at each other; both had several scratches and cuts, but Xuan sported large gashes along her arms and shoulders. Harry floated a foot above the ground, looking like the avatar of some long forgotten god, "so where is the vaunted strength and power of the Celestial Demon? Or perhaps the match oh so long ago robbed you of your ability to use the Celestial Forces Formula? Either way, you've lost." Xuan again summoned her spirit sword, "It's true I underestimated you early on, but I'm still here, as you can see." She charged Harry again, "You die now, imp!" Harry streaked backwards, gauging her attack, "Good, then we begin round two!"

Xuan's eyes went pure white as she drew on her full strength, "Pan Gu Hun Yuan Dictum! Pan Gu Celestial Forces Formula: Pan Gu Demon Arch Ascension!" This time Harry was hard pressed to keep up, and soon was fighting at his full strength, "Solar Shock of the Blazing Sun, level 8!" The fight went to a new level, and soon several craters had formed in the arena. Most of the spectators were inching away in fear, while the judges were more focused on reinforcing the shields than they were on judging the match. A loud crash brought all movement to a halt, a cloud of dust obscuring the battle field.

When the dust and smoke cleared, Harry was on one knee, bleeding in several places; Xuan didn't fare quite as well as she'd hoped, and was also bleeding badly in a few places. Unfortunately, it was Xuan who seemed to have won, even though neither had their spirit swords out. Harry got to his feet slowly as Xuan again summoned her spirit sword; they eyed each other carefully for several minutes before Xuan spoke again, "So you're still alive. I guess it was too much to hope I'd killed you in only the second round. Be warned, the third will be the last." She cranked her strength up to its full, "Taste the third level of the Pan Gu Celestial Forces Formula!"

Harry suddenly dispelled his spirit sword, "You leave me no choice. Rest in peace." He suddenly leapt high into the air, and a bright flash of light forced everyone to look away for a second. When their sight returned, a 30 foot Hungarian Horntail had replaced Harry, its bronze horns glinting in the light. Xuan didn't know what to do, or what had happened, and so didn't actually move till Harry's now yellow, slit pupils narrowed and he sent a jet of dark yellow fire at her, setting her robes on fire. She jumped away, and tried her Celestial Formula, but Harry raised a large clawed foot and blocked her before bringing it down on her, flat against the floor of the Great Hall.

Silence reigned; nobody moved; Harry seemed frozen. Then with a flash of light, and Harry again stood, green robes slashed, in the centre of the arena. He looked around, seeming to appraise the many spectators watching him, and snorted before moving slowly, but gracefully, to where Xuan now lay dying. He reached the small crater she was in, mostly crushed but not totally gone; she opened an eye as he approached, "You win, Green Dragon. I only ask that you finish me, I don't want to die painfully." Harry nodded and placed his hands on each side of her head, "That I will do, Xuan Mao, it was an honour, fighting you." His hands glowed and Xuan smiled at him; not a maniac grin, or a malevolent grin, or even an evil glare. Her last smile seemed to slough away the evil aura that had surrounded her, and if Harry hadn't been kneeling already, his knees would have buckled.

A brilliant aura of blue surrounded them, and Xuan's body started to glow. Harry's hands started giving off sparks and their eyes glowed with power. Slowly, painfully, grudgingly, Xuan's body became nothing more than an outline, and then with a last whispered, "Thank you" she was gone and only a small line of grey smoke flowed skyward toward where her voice seemed to have come from. Harry sighed, head bowed, and stood; his gaze swept the hall almost like a command, and nearly all bowed their heads as well. He turned to the panel, several of whom were stricken; Amelia Bones glanced at the others and stood, "the panel decides in a six-to-one voting, that Harry Potter has won. The Minister for Magic in Britain dissented, and according to panel rules internationally, has to give us his reasons." She sat again and everyone focused on the portly man as he stood and puffed out his chest.

Cornelius Fudge wasn't the smartest man on earth. In fact, many would go so far as to say that he was rather stupid, and that his being in the ministry was a freak accident, let alone being the Minister for Magic. He'd managed to hush up most publications about his blunder in supporting Luscious Malfoy to the wrong end, and Professor Trelawny had the strangest feeling that he was going to make another blunder.

Almost prophetically, Fudge opened his mouth and started off with, "Harry Potter has committed murder!" the crowd groaned, and if that weren't enough, he puffed up even more, "He is further an illegal animagus, and a dragon at that, and needs to be kept under tight ministry control! Merlin's sake! He used Unforgivable Curses just a round ago! And being able to cause such destruction! If it weren't illegal, the Ministry would have him under the imperius to stop him destroying the very nation we've worked so hard to build!"

Harry rose several feet off the ground, his eyes glowing; his voice was colder than a winter's night in Antarctica as he refuted Fudge, "The very parameters of the duel just witnessed were that of death as the ending, Fudge, and if you had listened to Professor McGonagall, you'd have known. In fact, the parameters for my duel against Draco Malfoy were set such that Unforgivable Curses were the only offensive magic allowed, and of course you conveniently forgot didn't you?" He paused and the air seemed to become thick with his anger, "You furthermore don't seem to know your own laws very well either; no animagi have to register till they are 18 years old! You made that because Luscious Malfoy paid you to do it! I've been reading up on this, including the ministry public information, and I wouldn't be the first you've wanted to put under the Imperius. Now why don't we check that properly and have you roll your sleeves up, hmmm?"

Fudge was stricken; nobody does that to Cornelius Fudge, nobody! Growling when he noticed that everyone was narrowing their eyes at him, and even his own aurors were raising their wands at him, he snapped out both his original wand and his spare, and began spraying out killing curses. Unfortunately for him, his power levels didn't permit him to use the Avada, and limited him to the orange version, Befejezetlen haláleset, which he further mispronounced, further reducing its effectiveness. Harry quickly subdued him and turned him over to the Aurors. Albus Dumbledore pronounced the tournament over, the feast open, and the awards ceremony in the making.

.........

Cold stone floors, bare chilled walls, just right for his purpose; he didn't want food and drink, let alone a party. Killing shouldn't have come into the question, at least for him, and it hadn't even been a problem involving him directly. Once again, the skeletal ass with red eyes had pushed another situation on him that he didn't want, or need. He'd have been completely happy if he hadn't come back; if he'd been allowed to live his own life, but that wasn't possible. Third year in a row with a death linked to Hogwarts; this just couldn't go on. Could it?

Harry sat cross legged in the bare room in the wing, meditating on what had happened. Three-Star Toad had been almost nothing compared to Xuan, but he had still gotten something out of it. He held firm to his belief that an evil entity had to be destroyed, but he definitely had a problem with getting something out of death. Toad had given him that book, which was definitely a good thing, and Xuan had given him her accumulated power and knowledge. He sighed; assimilating the power was important or it would have negative effects later on, but he still didn't like it.

He sensed someone else in the room, and knew immediately who it was; she'd wait for him, he was sure of that, but he could sense she wasn't in the mood for partying either, "Hey sweetie, you alright?" She smiled and sat beside him, "Could be worse I guess." Harry cracked open an eye and noticed her downed look, then closed his eye again and went back to meditating. She'd talk when she was ready and he wouldn't force her into it.

...

In a room further down the hall, a potion bubbled merrily near a hidden doorway. It had been a very long time, so it was understandable that Harry hadn't noticed the layers of spells and wards on said door. In the chamber beyond, awaiting discovery, an egg shifted slightly.

.........

A cruel voice rang out of the shadows, "I am already not pleased, Avery, do not keep Lord Voldemort waiting." It wasn't the cruelty and malice in the voice that made Avery tremble, rather it was the clear threat that came with it, and the chill that accompanied the simple phrase that made him imitate a leaf in a stiff breeze, "She died my lord, Potter killed her." Tom sneered, "And?" Avery shuddered, "Potter's an animgus my lord, a Hungarian Horntail animagus." He nodded, "I see, so Potter has become a worthy opponent. Even the old coot is powerful enough to be good fun, but he was beaten. Leave me! I must think."

The Death Eaters gathered sighed with relief and began moving out of the hall. Avery gave the loudest, and incidentally the only audible, breath, attracting Voldemort's attention, "Avery I have something for you." He paused for effect, "Crucio." The Death Eaters outside were ever so glad they'd gotten out.



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A/N: Whew! I was so sure my Voldemort muse was going to hit me with one too! Thank goodness I turned on the TV in time. Well, R/R please?