The red timer glared down from the floating screen: 00:15:00.
Fifteen minutes left in the match—fifteen minutes to defend their base against the best of U.A.'s first-year class.
The arena was an apocalyptic landscape of half-collapsed terrain, faintly glowing craters, and curling smoke from spent spell detonations. The veil spell, Harry's fog, still hung over the central base like a living mist. From the stands, the crowd saw little but silhouettes and flashes of light—shields flaring gold, shockwaves rippling blue-white.
Inside the Fog
Inside the mist, everything was muffled. The air was thick with ozone and scorched dirt.Harry knelt beside Ochako, who hunched over the Map Artifact hovering before her palms. Thin blue dots blinked and moved—friends. Red ones—enemies. They shifted rapidly, circling closer.
Ochako whispered, "They're regrouping… coming from the north and east both."
Harry nodded, handing her the comm earpiece. "Keep the eyes up. You're command now."
Her head snapped up. "Wait—Harry, you can't just—"
"I can. Midoriya can't hold them alone." He smiled, faint but steady. "Keep me posted, and tell me when to trigger the cards."
Before she could protest again, he pressed two fingers to his ring and vanished into the fog.
The world shrank to gray and heartbeat thumps.Every footfall sounded too loud. Every echo could be a trap.
Harry: "Midoriya, status?"
Midoriya: "Still fighting! I think—Bakugo's back!—ah crap—he's angry!"
Another explosion split the haze. Harry ducked instinctively, a wash of heat rippling past as he flicked a Shield Card. A gold barrier erupted, sparks scattering like stars before dying out.
Bakugo's snarl came sharp through the smoke. "Quit hiding behind your magic crap, Potter!"
Harry grinned wearily. "Then stop throwing fireworks."
He snapped a Gale Card into activation—wind roared, hurling Bakugo backward. The fog trembled, momentarily thinning.
Ochako's voice crackled through: "Two more incoming, right side! Fast—Todoroki's group!"
Harry whipped a Bind Card toward the motion. Crimson lines flashed through the mist—caught two attackers mid-run. They stumbled, frozen in place.
A sudden ice wave followed. "Activate left-side defense!" Ochako shouted.Harry flicked another card. The shield flared again, catching the frost head-on. The clash lit up the veil like lightning behind storm clouds.
From beyond the fog, a cluster of general studies students pressed forward, sweating, coughing, blinded by the magic haze.
"This fog's insane," one muttered."I can't see a damn thing—""Watch the floor! There's something—"
They didn't finish the sentence.A card hidden in the dirt flared blue-white. Flashbang. Light and sound ripped through them, throwing the front line into chaos.
Behind them, another team tried to flank. The ground beneath their feet shimmered—Rope Bind activated, magical cords wrapping their legs, yanking them down in a tangled heap.
The surviving ones pressed on. "There! Movement—!" one shouted, pointing toward a faint silhouette.
They lunged—only for the figure to vanish mid-swing. The illusion dissolved into light.
Panic spread. "We're fighting ghosts!""No—it's illusions—Harry Potter's behind all this!"
And just like that, realization dawned across the battlefield.If Harry fell, the fog and traps would fall with him.Midoriya alone could be overwhelmed—but with Harry's coordination and constant spell support, he was untouchable.
"Forget the green one!" barked a voice. "Take down the mage!"
The attackers surged inward, focusing all firepower where they thought Harry was.Spells, quirks, and projectiles tore through the fog in a wild storm of light.
Ochako's voice hissed in Harry's ear: "Four groups converging! Fall back, I'll guide you!"
Harry's breathing was ragged—his robe torn, dirt streaked across his cheek. But his magic reserves were still steady; it wasn't his energy that was running low—it was his body.Too many quick dodges, too many dives through debris.
"Activating traps—now," he muttered.
A string of illusion and tickle cards went off in sequence.One attacker froze mid-step, blinking in confusion as the world duplicated around him—three Midoriyas, each charging from a different direction.Another burst into hysterical laughter, clutching his stomach as the tickle spell took effect.
"What—what the hell is this?! Stop—HAHA—stop—!" he wheezed, collapsing to his knees.The others stumbled, distracted by the ridiculousness of it all.
Harry used the chaos to sprint through the smoke, shoulder-checking a student out of his way. "Never underestimate comedy magic," he muttered under his breath.
Ochako: "Midoriya—three closing from the north. One airborne!"Midoriya pivoted instantly, sliding across the dirt. He didn't have refined control of One for All—just muscle, memory, and instinct. He fought raw—ducking, grappling, redirecting weight rather than trading blows. He used cover, shadows, the brief flashes of Harry's spells.
It wasn't graceful. It wasn't pretty. But it worked.
Harry appeared beside him again, firing off another Gale to throw back a group."Focus on momentum!" he shouted."I'm trying!" Midoriya panted. "They won't stop coming!"
"Neither will we," Harry said, snapping his wrist. A Shield flared in front of them, catching a burst of flame.
The fog around them shimmered thin—the spell's duration almost up. But it didn't matter now. The audience could finally see what was happening inside.
The mist tore open, revealing flashes of chaos.Midoriya lunging through dust, parrying hits with sheer desperation.Harry, cards glowing at his fingertips, shields and blasts snapping into existence like clockwork.Ochako, crouched by the glowing map at the base, issuing calm directions into her earpiece.
Present Mic's voice boomed across the arena:
"AND THERE IT IS, FOLKS! The fog's gone, but Team Midoriya's coordination is next-level! Look at Potter—support spells flying nonstop, saving his team at every turn! I've seen pros with less synergy!"
Aizawa, watching from the stands, leaned forward slightly. "That kid's fighting style—it's all coordination and flow. Not raw strength."
All Might, arms crossed, smiled faintly. "Support heroes like that are the reason others can stand tall."
The tremors hit again. Bakugo and Todoroki crashed through the final ring of smoke, attacking in tandem. Fire and ice cleaved through the base, shaking the field.
Ochako shouted: "They're breaking through! Left side!"
Harry darted in, raising a Shield Card—the barrier met the twin assault with a thunderous impact. Steam billowed outward. The force rattled his bones, but the barrier held.
Bakugo roared. "You can't hide behind tricks forever!"
"Not hiding," Harry said through clenched teeth. "Just buying time."
The barrier finally shattered—crystalline shards of light bursting outward. Bakugo lunged in—but before he could reach them, Ochako yelled:
"Harry! Now!"
Harry slammed his last Tickle Card into the ground and triggered it.
For a split second, nothing happened. Then—
Half the attackers dropped where they stood, convulsing with laughter. Bakugo froze mid-lunge, expression contorting into shock and fury as helpless giggles burst out against his will. "Wha—HAHAHA—what the—IS THIS A JOKE?!"
It was.And it worked.
Harry grabbed Midoriya's wrist. "Move!"
They dashed back toward the base, explosions and laughter echoing behind them.
"Thirty seconds!" Ochako's voice came through, shaking with adrenaline.
Midoriya, bruised and panting, stood at the entrance, watching as the attackers stumbled over one another, still cackling uncontrollably. Harry dropped beside him, half doubled over, lungs burning.
The fog was gone. The base was scorched.But the flags still floated high—untouched.
The final horn blared.
Silence lingered for a heartbeat—then the stadium erupted.
Present Mic:
"AND THAT'S TIME! Team Midoriya holds their base—UNDEFEATED!"
The audience roared as the scoreboard blinked the results.Harry slumped to one knee, exhaustion washing over him. Midoriya leaned beside him, laughing breathlessly. "Tickle spell, huh?"
Harry gave a tired grin. "Always keep one ridiculous idea in your deck."
Ochako ran up, throwing her arms around them both. "We did it!"
From the stands, Aizawa watched with quiet approval. "They turned a fog spell and a joke curse into a victory."
All Might nodded. "That's creativity—and courage. The marks of a true hero."
Harry looked up at the sky, lungs heaving, the faintest smile tugging his lips.Not the strongest. Not the fastest.But for now—he was standing.
And that was enough.