— — — — — —
There was history between Ginny and Cassandra. Bad blood, the kind that doesn't fade.
Last year, when Cassandra came to Hogwarts for the exchange program, the two of them met during an open dueling lesson. Ginny was just a first-year rookie back then, yet she still managed to beat Cassandra. Sure, it was a narrow, lucky win, but in a duel, excuses don't change the result.
From that moment on, the two girls never got along.
And even after returning to North America, Cassandra never forgot that loss. If anything, Ginny became the driving force behind her relentless self-improvement.
"Remember," Professor McGonagall said sternly to both competitors, "you may fight at full strength, but any spell with lasting side effects is strictly forbidden. Otherwise, Professor Dumbledore has the authority to stop the match at any time."
Dumbledore had already appeared at the edge of the arena.
McGonagall served as head referee, the three Heads of House were assistant referees, and Dumbledore oversaw everything. With that lineup, telling the students to go all out wasn't empty bravado.
Ginny and Cassandra both nodded. When McGonagall announced the start, they completed the duel formalities, then raised their wands at the same time, both casting silently.
Two blinding beams collided. Instead of dispersing, they locked together, forming a crackling arc of energy.
The stands erupted in gasps. No one expected them to go this hard right from the opening, jumping straight into a raw contest of magical power.
Tom sighed quietly, a hint of pity in his eyes as he looked at Cassandra.
Poor kid. You're standing on the left side. Don't you know the left side always loses beam clashes?
The point of collision wavered in the middle for a moment, then slowly began drifting toward Cassandra.
Cassandra's expression changed. The hand gripping her wand trembled under the crushing pressure of Ginny's magic. She made a split-second decision and severed the connection herself, but the backlash still knocked her back several steps, her breathing ragged.
Ginny pressed her advantage immediately. Her opening move was her specialty, the Bat-Bogey Hex.
Cassandra had anticipated this long ago. She'd been chanting the counterspell in her head the whole time.
Seeing her spell neutralized, Ginny switched tactics. She gestured to the ground, and the weeds at her feet writhed. More than a dozen thin grass snakes burst out, tongues flickering as they slithered in from all directions, surrounding Cassandra.
Both Gryffindor and Slytherin fell into stunned silence.
The young lions were questioning reality. Was Ginny Weasley really one of them? Her methods screamed Slytherin.
The snakes felt just as uncomfortable. A Gryffindor acting more Slytherin than they did. Was this what it felt like to be outplayed at your own game?
"It's over," Tom said flatly.
He shook his head as he watched Cassandra continuously spray flames from her wand, burning back the grass snakes to keep them at bay.
Ginny's style was relentless offense. The moment an opponent focused on defense, the sheer variety of spells at her disposal would overwhelm anyone at a similar level. They'd scramble, miss a beat, and expose a fatal opening.
And besides… Ginny was simply stronger than Cassandra to begin with.
As the only girl around who had personally ended an enemy's life, Ginny's mindset had already undergone a complete transformation. Her decisiveness and confidence in casting put many adult wizards to shame.
Add in the early physical development from half a dozen Strengthening Potions, both her magic and physique were well beyond even most prodigies.
By Tom's own standards, Ginny now ranked among the true standouts of her generation.
Sure enough, from start to finish, Cassandra stayed on the defensive. Shielding herself, dispelling spells, scrambling nonstop. One mistake was all it took.
Ginny slammed her with a Body-Bind Curse, pinning her to the ground. Finally, Cassandra's wand flew from her hand.
The stands exploded with applause. Faces were filled with awe.
This was absurd. A second-year who'd mastered dozens of dueling spells. Had she started studying magic right after her magic awakened?
---
Diagon Alley
"That's my daughter! My daughter!" Mrs. Weasley shouted excitedly at the entrance to the Astra Abyssum Guild, practically glowing. Her round face bloomed like a sunflower as she beamed. "Ginny Weasley! My youngest! She's even better than her six brothers!"
In an instant, countless looks of envy and jealousy turned her way.
Not just toward Ginny, but toward Mrs. Weasley herself.
Six sons. One daughter.
That meant at least seven children in the family.
How was anyone not supposed to be jealous?
---
The view shifted back to Hogwarts. Cassandra had already returned to her seat, frowning as she let out a quiet sigh.
She'd expected to lose this match. What she hadn't expected was to lose so cleanly. Now the question was… who could she even challenge next?
Hermione?
No. Challenging downward would be too humiliating. That left only one option.
The fifth-year boy from Hogwarts.
As the winner, Ginny had the right to either continue challenging opponents or step down and rest until the next round.
She chose to step off the field, handing the stage to Hermione.
Hermione hesitated, remembering that Cassandra had just lost a match. Challenging her again felt a bit like bullying, so she chose Cedric instead.
Unfortunately, Hermione didn't dominate the way Ginny had.
Cedric was one of Professor McGonagall's favorite students, a master of Transfiguration. After securing his own defenses, he flooded the arena with all kinds of small animals.
Hermione's Transfiguration was excellent too, but when it came to flexible application and fine control over transformed creatures, she lagged behind. One side had a scattered rabble, the other a trained army. The outcome was obvious.
Before long, a border collie snatched Hermione's wand right out of her hand, and she lost her first challenge.
Hermione was furious with herself afterward. She knew she'd made a tactical mistake. She never should have competed with Cedric in Transfiguration. She should've used the wide-area spells Tom had taught her.
But it was too late for regrets.
Having lost, Hermione withdrew instead of continuing. The challenger became Cassandra, who didn't hesitate to pick Cedric as well.
And she, too, ended in defeat.
The Hufflepuff students clapped until their hands were sore. Professor Sprout, serving as an assistant referee, smiled so hard her eyes nearly disappeared.
This time, Hufflepuff was riding high, happier than Christmas.
But their joy didn't last long.
Cedric chose to challenge Fleur and was instantly subdued by a single mental spell. He froze in place, eyes unfocused, his consciousness dragged into an illusion.
Fleur had never shown any mental-type magic in earlier matches, so Cedric hadn't guarded against it at all. One careless moment, and he was done. Losing like that felt especially frustrating.
Once he regained consciousness, Cedric gave a wry smile. Uninjured, he chose to continue and challenged the seventh-year, Duola Tiago.
This time, Tiago revealed a new form of druidic transformation: a jaguar.
A jaguar wasn't as strong as a brown bear, but it was faster and better at closing distance. Agile beasts like that were often more terrifying to wizards.
What happened next, though, had both the crowd and the viewers watching through the Floo mirrors laughing out loud.
Cedric raised a small mound of earth around himself, then transfigured the outer layer into iron plates, turning it into a laughably crude little bunker.
It was flimsy by any standard, but more than enough to stop a jaguar's claws. He even left a ring of gaps so he could fire spells from inside.
With no other choice, Tiago reverted to human form, and the match turned back into a standard wizard's duel.
His professor, Isabella, sighed. This was the inherent weakness of druidic transformation. Until one could become a magical creature, it was little more than a surprise trick. Give a wizard enough space, and dealing with a beast was actually simple.
In the end, despite taking some injuries, Cedric won the match.
Watching Cedric's fight with Tiago, Ginny also saw through the weakness of druidic transformation. To a chorus of gasps, she challenged Tiago herself. From the opening move, she kept her distance. Tiago's two animal forms were both quickly exploited, and in the end, she actually won.
A second-year defeating a seventh-year.
That result sent Mrs. Weasley in Diagon Alley into absolute ecstasy.
After that came Fleur's moment to shine.
She challenged her way up from the bottom, defeating every remaining competitor one by one.
Fleur became the champion.
...
After the matches concluded, there was a brief awards ceremony. Under Daphne's murderous glare, Fleur pulled Tom up onto the stage with her, clinging to his arm the entire time, the two of them pressed close together.
She didn't even glance at the thousand Galleon prize, casually handing it to a Beauxbatons student before stepping forward to give her victory speech in a clear, ringing voice.
"Thank you to the professors of Beauxbatons for teaching me without holding anything back, and thank you to Madam Maxime for trusting me. But most of all, I want to thank you, my dear. Meeting you has been the greatest fortune of my life."
In front of everyone, Fleur boldly kissed the boy on the cheek, her gaze practically melting.
At that moment, some girls' looks toward her changed, filled with naked hostility.
After a declaration like that, wouldn't the whole world assume Fleur was Tom's official girlfriend? Of course, that's not wrong—Tom was just waiting for the right age to marry this wonderful girl—but still…
"Mr. Riddle, if you ever have the time, you're welcome to visit Beauxbatons," Madame Maxime said before departing. "It's a very different sight from Hogwarts. I'm confident you'd enjoy it."
Tom smiled awkwardly and nodded, promising he would visit if he ever had the chance. At the same time, he scrubbed his face hard with his hands, trying to wipe away the lipstick mark still lingering on his cheek.
.
.
.