"I've never seen anything like it, the boy knows spells and magic I haven't ever witnessed let alone heard of" he explained, completely shocked. "He's so powerful and so fast, he wasn't even out of breath".
"He's that good?" Mortlake demanded to know.
"He disarmed me 6 times and I couldn't even land a thing on him" Flitwick continued. "I daresay he would be a match for yourself Albus".
Dumbledore nodded, clearly relieved.
"Surely you're exaggerating" Mortlake muttered. "I assure you I am not, the young man is a prodigy and he uses everything; charms, curses and transfiguration better than any duelist, yet he clearly is not one, he does not stand or cast like one, he fights, he doesn't duel" he finished.
"Where would a sixteen year old learn magic like that?" McGonagall questioned with a frown.
"He's had the best training and tuition, there's no doubt about it, I just don't know why" Flitwick mused aloud.
"Mr. Potter is a very dedicated wizard, I believe that he simply wants to be the best he can be" Dumbledore replied.
"He's dedicated himself to fighting, but to what end? I imagine he knows much more than I saw also, we dueled with non-lethal spells and he is going into a death match tomorrow, he must have knowledge of darker spells". "He has a better knowledge of dark magic than anyone I have ever taught, perhaps even myself" Mortlake grudgingly admitted. "He definitely knows his stuff" h added confidently.
"Why is he dueling Dolohov though? The last I heard he was supporting the madman" Slughorn broke in.
"Do you think he has something to do with it?" McGonagall cut in worriedly.
"It's a possibility" Dumbledore conceded, fully aware of Harry's intentions.
"I imagine young Mr. Potter would give him a run for his money" Flitwick surmised. "You don't think that is his intention, he clearly came back here for a reason" he continued urgently.
"Perhaps it is" Dumbledore answered dismissively. "But for the time being we should just be relieved that he will probably be ok tomorrow" he concluded. "I think Antonin is in real trouble" Flitwick returned gravely. "The boy will slaughter him, I would put a lot of galleons on it".
Dumbledore sighed internally.
He knew that this was coming but he had not expected it so soon.
(BREAK)
Harry woke the next morning, simply ready. He had spent the previous evening preparing himself mentally to fight, working on his occlumency to clear his mind as best he could and practicing allowing his magic to flow as he would need it to.
From his own experience he knew that Dolohov was a powerful wizard, as confirmed by Flitwick himself and remembered that he was one of the few Death Eaters that had fired fatal curses at himself and his friends, almost killing Hermione in the process, a thought that filled him with a fury that he had up until now been swallowing down.
Not anymore.
He allowed his anger to permeate within him as he played the night in the Department of Mysteries over and over again in his mind until he felt that the anger was at the point of boiling over.
He watched as Hermione collapsed, completely unmoving, after his curse had hit her. He watched as Sirius disappeared through the veil and he watched as the older Bellatrix goaded him and mocked him over the death of the only man willing to share his home with the teen, the only person to show him genuine love.
He stood and began his final preparations of the day.
He showered quickly, returned to his room where he dressed in some dark grey muggle tracksuit bottoms, a plain black t-shirt and trainers and exited the tower, needing to be alone for a while before the anger he had built up spilled over prematurely in his eagerness to destroy his opponent.
He left the castle and began walking through the icy grounds, the crisp weather doing nothing to cool the burning rage he was feeling as he began circling the lake, stewing in all of the emotion he had been concealing.
By the time he was making his way back to the school to get some much needed breakfast, he could feel his magic pulsing through every part of him, just itching to be unleashed, so much so that he was internally vibrating in anticipation.
He entered the Great Hall and ignored the pointing and whispering as he took his usual seat amongst the rest of the Marauders who were all clearly very nervous.
"Harry, your eyes are glowing" James pointed out with a whisper. "I can't help it" Harry sighed, not realising that they were glowing at all.
"Are you ready?" Sirius questioned worriedly.
Harry just nodded and began piling his plate with scrambled eggs and toast.
The rest of the group realised that he was not in a talking mood and simply allowed him to eat in peace, shooting glares at those staring at their friend.
As soon as he finished, Harry stood, ready to leave and get it over with, noticing that the whispering had become much more prevalent.
"Harry" James said weakly as he too stood. "Just come back, please" he pleaded.
Harry smiled at the boy and swallowed back a little emotion at the care he was being shown.
He nodded before speaking. "I'm not worried but I have taken measures just in case something goes wrong" he informed the boy. "My bed curtains have been charmed shut and only I can open them, but the spell will fail if I die, there's a letter in there for you if that happens" he explained.
James shook his head.
"I don't want a letter" he stated emotionally.
"Then let's just hope everything goes to plan" Harry returned, not wanting to debate the inevitable confrontation.
James sighed and nodded before pulling the other boy into a tight hug.
"Just do whatever you have to and come back" he whispered sternly.
Harry nodded and extracted himself from James only to be engulfed by the other three Marauders at once.
"Get off me you gits" he chuckled. "No" Sirius responded flatly.
"Good luck Harry, just, good luck" Remus choked.
Harry wrapped his arm around the boy.
"We still have a lot of the forest to explore Moony, I won't be going anywhere until we have done that" Harry promised.
Remus snorted and shook his head amusedly.
"I know you'll win Harry" Peter piped up. "I don't think anyone could beat you" he added confidently.
"Well Wormtail, I didn't expect you to be the most confident in this" Harry replied, feeling a little surprised.
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