(Third Person POV)
"They're going to settle the winner with a duel!"
Ludo Bagman's magically amplified voice thundered across the stadium.
"Can you believe it?! Karkaroff could have simply taken the Cup and claimed victory, but instead he's decided to give his fellow champions a chance!"
The stands erupted.
Cheers, whistles, and excited shouting swept through the crowd as everyone watched the crystal sphere display the two champions facing each other in the clearing.
Even the judges looked surprised.
Harry and Ivan had positioned themselves several metres apart, the Triwizard Cup gleaming between them.
Harry shifted his feet and raised his wand.
His left arm went behind his back while his right arm extended forward, wand held at an angle.
His posture was unmistakably theatrical, almost like a fencer preparing to duel.
Sirius, watching from the stands, immediately grinned. "That's my boy."
Remus glanced sideways at him. "You taught him that?"
"Among other things."
"You've been teaching him to duel like a musketeer?" Remus raised a brow.
Sirius shrugged proudly. "It looks cool."
Remus sighed, he knew there was little point in arguing.
Harry's stance might have been unnecessarily flamboyant, but there was a practical reason behind it.
Sirius had spent countless hours drilling footwork and reflexes into his godson.
Never stand flat-footed, never let your wand arm become predictable, keep your centre of gravity low, and above all… Make your opponent wonder what you're about to do.
Harry's eyes remained fixed on Ivan.
His heart was pounding. This wasn't like the previous obstacles. There was no creature to outwit or environmental trap to overcome.
He was facing another wizard, an incredibly talented one.
Harry swallowed nervously, but then steadied his breathing almost immediately.
Across from him, Ivan looked completely different.
He stood perfectly straight. Both arms hung loosely beside his body, his wand rested casually in his right hand.
To an inexperienced observer, it might have looked like carelessness.
Bagman certainly seemed to think so.
"And look at Karkaroff!" he exclaimed. "What an unusual stance! The young Durmstrang champion appears almost completely relaxed!"
But the more experienced duelists in the stands saw something else.
Ivan wasn't relaxed, he was ready.
His posture was deliberately neutral, allowing him to move in any direction without telegraphing his intentions.
And his eyes never left Harry, they followed every tiny movement, every shift of weight, every adjustment of his wand, like a hawk watching prey.
Professor McGonagall narrowed her eyes. "He's studying Potter."
Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed, it looks like he's letting Harry make the first move."
Ivan's expression remained calm, but behind those eyes, he was already analysing Harry.
The position of his feet, the angle of his shoulders, his grip, his breathing. Even the slightest tension in his wand arm.
Harry, meanwhile, remembered something Sirius had told him countless times.
Don't duel the wand, duel the wizard.
His opponent wasn't the wand in Ivan's hand, it was Ivan himself.
The thought steadied him.
Watching Harry adjust his footing slightly, a faint smile appeared on Ivan's lips.
The silence stretched, but Ivan made no move.
He simply stood there, watching Harry with that same infuriatingly calm expression.
Harry waited another second, then another, but nothing happened.
Fine.
If Ivan wasn't going to attack...
Harry decided that he would be the one to start.
His wand snapped forward. "Expelliarmus!"
A red beam shot across the clearing.
It was followed almost immediately by another.
"Stupefy!"
And before the first two spells had even reached their target…
"Incarcerous!"
Three spells in rapid succession.
Sirius had affectionately named the combination the Duelist's Greeting.
Harry had practised it dozens of times, the idea was simple.
Disarm the opponent, stun them, and then bind them before they have the opportunity to recover.
Against careless opponents, it was brutally effective.
Ivan, however...
He sighed in disappointment.
"How unoriginal."
The first spell was already upon him. He didn't even raise his wand, he simply shifted his body sideways and the red beam passed harmlessly beside his shoulder.
"Expelliarmus" struck nothing but air.
The second spell arrived immediately afterward, but Ivan didn't even bother moving.
His wand flicked upward.
Crack!
The Stunner was struck aside by a precise counter.
It shot toward the ground and exploded against the grass.
Harry's eyes widened.
And when the third spell reached Ivan, he didn't try to dodge.
He placed his wand in front of his chest and the ropes that had erupted from Harry's spell seemed to bend toward the tip of Ivan's wand as though caught by an invisible current.
They stopped, suspended inches from him.
For a moment, Ivan simply held them there, then his eyes narrowed.
"Is that really all you've got?"
His wand twisted, the ropes suddenly compressed into a tight bundle of magical energy.
Harry's stomach dropped.
Ivan had caught the spell.
And now he was feeding more magic into it.
As the bundle grew brighter, Ivan flicked his wand and the spell shot back toward Harry at nearly twice the speed.
Harry barely saw it coming.
His wand came up instinctively, but he realised there wasn't enough time to raise a shield or counter.
"Bloody hell!"
Harry threw himself sideways as the spell tore past him. He hit the ground hard and rolled several times before coming to a stop.
The enchanted ropes struck the hedge behind him, wrapping around several thick branches with enough force to break them.
Harry stared.
If that had hit him… He didn't want to think about it.
Watching the duel, the audience erupted.
"WHAT A COUNTER!" Bagman roared. "KARKAROFF HAS TURNED POTTER'S OWN SPELL AGAINST HIM!"
Harry pushed himself onto one knee, breathing heavily.
Across the clearing, Ivan hadn't moved a single step from where he'd started.
His wand remained lowered, his expression was almost disappointed.
"Don't you have anything better? Something more original?" he asked Harry.
Harry wiped some dirt from his cheek. "You're going to regret saying that."
Ivan's smile widened. "Good."
Harry rose to his feet. This time, he wasn't going to underestimate him.
And back in the stands, Sirius leaned forward with a grin. "Come on Prongslet, show him what you got."
…
(Support with power stones or comments. You can also subscribe to my Patreon /mysterion901 to read ahead)