"Alright, they've all failed," Arthur announced cheerfully. "Percy, it's your turn." He gave his third son a knowing wink.
Percy stood up, drew his wand, and faced Aiden with a serious expression.
"Any special requests, Brother Percy?" Aiden asked, putting a finger to his chin and adopting a sickeningly sweet, boyish voice.
"Stop messing around, Aiden," Percy said, his tone sharp and unaffected. "You were influencing them before they even stepped onto the field. Some kind of charm, is it?"
"Impressive," Aiden said calmly, his playful demeanor vanishing. "You even discovered that."
"You should have influenced them during the battle," Percy advised coolly. "It would have been more effective. But Ron, George, and Fred—for the three of you to be so easily influenced by your younger brother is frankly embarrassing."
The three brothers shot Percy resentful glares from the sidelines.
"Teach him a lesson, Aiden!"
"Let him taste your power!"
"Give that big-headed git what he deserves!"
"Then, the duel begins!" Arthur ordered.
"Expulso!" Percy began immediately, launching a powerful blasting curse.
The long staff appeared in Aiden's hand, and the translucent crystal barrier wrapped around him once more. The curse exploded harmlessly against the shield, but the dust it kicked up completely obscured Percy's figure.
"Nebulus," Percy's voice called out from within the cloud.
Aiden fired a quick offensive spell into the dust, but it hit nothing. A moment later, a much larger bank of thick fog rolled across the entire dueling ground, enveloping everything. But Percy had miscalculated. After reaching Sequence Six of the Visionary Pathway, Aiden's senses were greatly enhanced; losing his sight meant very little.
Still, Aiden didn't attack immediately. He was curious to see what methods the brilliant, all-star future Prefect would employ.
From within the fog, Percy began a relentless barrage of spells. "Flying Sand and Rocks! Diffindo! Petrificus Totalus! Expelliarmus! Reducto!" With each cast, Percy would quickly change his position, preventing Aiden from getting a lock on him.
Aiden stood calmly within his hexagonal crystal shield, weathering the storm.
'Good,' Percy thought, a grim smile on his face. 'If I just keep this up, I can wear him down. He can't maintain that shield forever.'
"Relashio!" A spell shot out of the mist, and Percy was just about to move again when a beam of white light with black, crackling edges tore through the fog toward him.
Percy's eyes widened. He threw up a silent Shield Charm just in time. 'Impossible! How can he counterattack while under a constant barrage?'
The situation had turned. In a flash of displaced space, Aiden appeared directly behind Percy. The staff in his hand pulsed with light, and Percy, caught completely off guard, froze, his body petrified. Aiden then raised his staff and, with a powerful weather charm, summoned a strong gust of wind that blew the thick fog away.
The view cleared to reveal the stiff form of Percy, standing frozen in the middle of the field. The twins immediately ran up and began doing a bizarre victory dance around him while Ron covered his mouth, trying to stifle his laughter.
"Alright, Percy has failed too," Arthur announced, trying to sound solemn. "It seems your strength is quite formidable, Aiden. How about trying a round with us?" He offered a new suggestion, his eyes twinkling. "How about it? Are you still able to fight?"
"I would be glad to," Aiden replied, a grin spreading across his face.
Molly and Arthur drew their wands and stood together, facing him.
"Oh my god," Ron said in a horrified whisper. "Aiden's going to fight Mum and Dad."
"What's the big deal? It's just a duel," Harry said, his eyes alight with excitement. He felt Ron was making a fuss over nothing.
"Alright then, Aiden," Arthur said, getting into a battle-ready stance. "Let's see this new magic of yours."
"Well then, Uncle, Aunt," Aiden said with a wicked smile. "Here I come."
As the words left his mouth, Aiden floated into the air. Molly and Arthur reacted instantly, both firing Disarming Charms. Two small, crystalline shields appeared around Aiden, neatly blocking both spells. With their initial attempt thwarted, Aiden rose higher into the sky.
Arthur transformed into a streak of white light and shot after him. Aiden spun his staff, sending three beams of energy toward him. Arthur deflected two with well-aimed Cutting Curses, while Molly, on the ground, destroyed the third with a powerful Reductor Curse.
"A very tacit cooperation, Uncle and Aunty."
They ignored him, raising their wands to fire again. Aiden snapped his fingers. Suddenly, their wands twisted in their hands, pointing directly at each other. Just as they were about to cast, both Molly and Arthur shuddered, forcing their wands away at the last second. The spells exploded in the open field, blasting two new craters in the grass.
"Amazing," Aiden's voice commented. He was still in the same spot, but strangely, his figure seemed hazy and illusory. He had slipped into their conscious blind spot. "It's incredible that you two could react to that."
"Is this your ability?" Arthur praised from the air. "It seems to have gotten even more powerful."
On the ground, Molly began to rotate her wand vigorously, whipping it through the air like a great lash. A tornado began to form, rising from the ground. In the air, Arthur cooperated perfectly, launching a torrent of flames into the vortex. "Incendio!"
The massive fire tornado roared across the field, forcing Aiden out of his hiding spot. He reappeared, encased in a spherical crystal barrier.
"Got you," Arthur smiled.
He and Molly locked eyes, then fired their Disarming Charms in perfect sync. Two brilliant red beams hammered against Aiden's shield, causing sparks of plasma to erupt from the impact. The tables had turned. Just moments ago, Aiden had been overwhelming George with his magical power; now, he was being pinned down by the combined might of two adult wizards.
But what Molly and Arthur didn't expect was that even under such immense pressure, Aiden showed no signs of fatigue.
"To be able to stand against the both of us after so many duels," Molly said, a meaningful look in her eyes. "You are truly a Prewett."
[Ding. Oh ho. Someone is about to be in trouble.]
'Shut up.'
Pushed into a stalemate, Aiden decided not to hide his power any longer. Tongues of flame from the dissipating tornado licked at his face, and the wind whipped his wizard hat from his head. A pair of silver-white dragon horns was revealed, stark against his hair. He spread his wings, and with a light slide of his fingers along his staff, a sound like a clapper echoed across the field. A silver-white halo of energy spread out from him as the center.
"Interdictory Charm!"
Molly and Arthur's Disarming Charms were instantly dispelled. The hexagonal crystal barrier around Aiden also vanished. He flapped his wings, darting forward to catch Arthur and prevent him from falling from the sky.
"Guardian Interdictory!"
An illusory white halo appeared over Molly and Arthur, and Aiden easily snatched their wands from their hands.
"Well," Arthur said with a wry smile as they landed. "We lost."
Aiden helped them both up. Under the afternoon sun, his draconic scales shimmered, casting a rainbow of unpredictable colors.
"Wow, cool! What is that?" Harry asked in amazement.
"That's the dragon-man form," Ron explained proudly. "Mum said it's the mark of the Prewetts' most elite warriors."
The twins had already rushed over to touch Aiden's wings, even trying to pluck a scale before Aiden drove them away with a flap. Harry also walked up and, seeing Aiden's slender tail, couldn't help but reach out and stroke it. The tail twitched violently, like a startled snake.
"Eek! Don't touch the tail, it's very sensitive there," Aiden yelped, jumping away like a rabbit before quickly retracting his scales.
"Aww, can't you stay transformed a little longer?" George asked.
"Yeah, let us admire it," Fred added.
"You two want to admire it?" Aiden rolled his eyes.
"Alright, that's enough," Arthur said, his stomach rumbling. "Let's go back. I'm hungry after all that exercise."
"Oh, the kitchen!" Molly exclaimed, and with a pop, she Disapparated.
The rest of the family walked back, talking and laughing, leaving the scarred reed field to its peace.
***********
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