Moody called up all the fourth year Ravenclaws alphabetically to face Harry. Terry Boot was the first student Harry faced. The boy got off to spells before Harry successfully summoned Terry's wand. Next was Mandy Brocklehurst who was so nervous that she nearly dropped her wand on Moody's command to start.
Michael Corner was the first of the hard-core Magical Society Club members that Harry faced. Harry remembered Corner's support of Nott back in October. It seemed the other boy still had something to prove. For a moment Harry contemplated finding the Ravenclaw prefect on patrol one night and introducing him to the Beast.
Corner came after Harry throwing everything he could into loudly cast spells- as though the louder he shouted to spell the more powerful it would be. It was the first habit Sirius broke Harry of at the start of summer. Harry was not quite focused enough for silent spells but he did have a down to a whisper. Harry verbally cast a tickling hex and quickly followed it up with a near silent stunning spell. The tickling hex was a bright red pulse of light while the stunning spell was a darker red. Corner heard and saw the tickling curse and stood his ground expecting his shield to stop it. Unfortunately for him the following stunner was powerful enough to not only break his shield but also sent him tumbling off the duelling platform to the onlookers' general amusement.
The duels continued through the entire Ravenclaw Fourth year cohort. By the time Harry faced his girlfriend he was starting to feel a bit beat up. Harry could see the concern on Padma's face as she faced him across the platform. Ironically, she was his most challenging Ravenclaw opponent.
Next, Moody called up the Fourth year Hufflepuffs. Hannah Abbott went down quickly to Harry's wand. Susan Bones however, gave Harry a real challenge. She soon went down to a stunning spell but Harry suspected she was receiving some training from her aunt's Aurors. When it was Ernie's turn Harry could see that his mate wasn't trying his best. Moody could see it too and yelled at the fourth year for not being aggressive enough. Harry quickly scored a hit on his friend with a disarming spell.
Zacharias Smith was the last Hufflepuff student. Smith had never been a friend or supporter to Harry. A pureblood, Smith was friendly with Michael corner and many of the Slytherins. His family was not part of the elite pureblood society but from comments Ernie made Harry reckoned that the other boy wanted to be at that level. Smith was also one of the central idiots behind the rumours that Harry was 'the heir of Slytherin'.
Almost before Moody said, "Begin," Smith started firing a barrage of spells, hexes, and curses at Harry. The boy seemed determined to defeat Harry. For a moment Harry was tempted to let them. He really didn't want to be doing this and didn't need the attention from the rest of the school. He more wanted to curse Moody. But Harry also didn't want to give the git the satisfaction of beating the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry fired a wide area bludgeoning curse that threw the other boy clear off the duelling platform.
Lavender is called up as the first Gryffindor. The gossipy witch managed to dodge Harry's first two curses before a tickling hex caught her in the side. Moody wasn't impressed that she was taken out by a first year spell but Harry was actually surprised that she managed to dodge his first two spells and suspected that she was also.
Now in rapid order Harry fought Seamus, Hermione, Neville, Parvati, and Dean. By the time Ron appeared on the end of the duelling platform Harry looked like he had just run a marathon. Sweat was dripping from Harry's face from the constant dodging and the magical effort he was putting forth. While Harry wasn't using any of the really powerful spells Sirius taught him over the summer it was the cumulative effort of fighting all those duels. In fact, Harry suspected without his werewolf-animagus form and summer training he would have passed out from magical exhaustion before he finished duelling the Hufflepuffs.
Ron took one look at Harry and turned toward Moody and said, "Professor, this is nutters. You can't make Harry do this!"
"Aye, I can, laddie. Now get into position and get ready to duel."
Ron turned and looked out the platform to Harry. "Harry?"
Harry looked through his exhausted eyes at one of his best mates. He saw the question on Ron's face. Harry knew he should just turn around and walk off the platform but for some reason he felt pressed to continue on. He saw the scowl on the defence professor's face. Harry took a deep breath and forced himself to stand up into a ready position. He gave Ron a quick nod to confirm he was ready.
"Begin!" Moody called out.
...
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