Sirius had taken a serious risk in his attempts to spy on the competition for Harry. Hermione insisted fervently that he stay in the Shrieking Shack for his own safety, he snuck out a few times in his animagus form to roam the Hogwarts grounds and Forbidden Forest. Harry understood how much joy sneaking around Hogwarts must have brought his godfather, whose life had been completely torn to shreds only a short time after graduation, so he wasn't as adamant as Hermione. He just warned Sirius to be careful when he did sneak out. After all, the man had managed to get inside the school last year, with dementors actively searching for him, so he knew how to sneak around properly.
The end result was finding out what Cedric and Fleur were up to. The Durmstrang ship was a veritable floating fortress, so he had no idea how Krum was preparing for the next task. Sirius had seen Cedric perform wandless magic at night near the edge of the forest, but he was wearing some other kind of focus device on his hand. On top of that, the spells he cast were done wordlessly, more powerful than expected, and could be fired off rapidly. He couldn't figure out any more details, as there were several other Hufflepuffs standing guard and watching for spies. Harry wondered if Cedric knew a wand-crafter of some sort who had created him some kind of super-wand. He figured that he'd need a second layer of shield-charmed clothing if he were to survive Cedric's spells.
Fleur, interestingly enough, had gone with Harry's first idea- a magical sword. Of course, she used a lightweight sabre instead of a broadsword, combined with a small magical shield. On top of that, she had training with these weapons and moved gracefully with them. Against her, Harry would need to focus on being even quicker and lighter. Grateful for the information, Harry gave Sirius a big hug the night before the trial.
On the day of the trial, Hermione, Neville, and the twins all helped him carry his equipment down to the Quidditch-turned-duelling stadium. Instead of the usual champion's tent, there were four tents, so each champion wouldn't be able to see the others until just before the duel started. Bagman's eyes boggled at the trunks that came along with Harry.
"Surely you're not going to carry all that up on stage with you, Mr. Potter?"
"Not all at once, but I'll probably make use of most of them at the end of three duels."
"Very well, Mr. Potter. Please wait inside. Today's procedures are rather special, as you can imagine. At the beginning of each duel, you must hand your wand in to the referee at the beginning of the duel. You'll get it back at the end. During the two-hour break in between each duel, you have to stay inside this tent. You will not be allowed to watch the other duellers during your break. No visitors will be allowed except for tournament officials and mediwitches. An arbitrator will be coming by shortly to inspect your choice of tools before the duels begin. Is that clear?" Harry nodded with some reluctance, but understood the need for all the secrecy. At least he had a rough idea of what Cedric and Fleur were using already. Hermione gave him a quick good luck kiss before leaving, while Neville, Fred, and George gave him hearty pats on the back. After his friends left, Harry ended up waiting for an hour before the arbitrator came by. He spent the time loading up his many belts and checking over the shield charms on his hat and robes. He was putting on his "explosives" belt when the man walked in.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. My name is Julian Scalette. Would you care to explain to me what tools you've brought today?"
"Well, on this belt I have the explosives. Most of them shoot off sparks or fireworks. That trunk over there has more," he explained, pointing at the trunk beside him. "This next belt contains the throwing-vials..." The explanation and inspection for all the things Harry had took half an hour, but it went by without a fuss. He had looked questioningly at the "candies" that Harry intended to use, but as the rules specifically forbade "potions," he managed to get away with it the same way he got away with using gillyweed for the last task. It wasn't liquid, and he didn't actually have to swallow anything (the gillyweed juices soaked straight through his skin, and his candies he picked were meant to be spat out), so the arbitrator grudgingly allowed them. It was a rule they'd surely change in future tournaments.
Another official came by later, informing him he would be starting his duel in ten minutes and his first opponent was Cedric. Remembering what Sirius had seen, he quickly pulled out his spare set of charmed robes. Undoing the many, many belts he had, putting on the second layer of robes, and then putting them back on took nearly all of the ten minutes. He was still scrambling with the last buckle when the official stepped into the tent to escort him to the duelling platform.
As he walked up to the platform, he took a good look at what Cedric was wearing. It was a gauntlet on his right hand- a very pretty gauntlet that was studded with jewels. In fact, it reminded him of Gryffindor's sword. It must have been goblin-made. As they stepped up on stage, the referee asked for their wands. After handing their wands over, Harry and Cedric bowed and the duel began.
Keeping what Sirius had found out in mind, Harry knew that if he was defensive with Cedric, he'd probably get pinned down quickly. The shield charms on his robes wouldn't last very long. He immediately pulled out two of the modified Bursting Beasties and yanked the cords. A sparkling wyvern and cougar began charging towards Cedric. Without bothering to defend himself, the older boy dodged and tossed a light stunner at Harry. Harry easily sidestepped the single spell as he pulled another set of the Beasties from his belt. Was Sirius seeing the right thing? That was a pretty weak stunner. If Cedric really can cast faster than he could with a wand, why doesn't he? Harry wondered. He looked into Cedric's eyes, trying to read what he was thinking. Thirty-six was the only thing Harry could pull from Cedric's thoughts.
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