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The Overpowered Gamer 47
🕑 Added 2023-03-26 13:44:04 +0000 UTC47. The Selection of Champions
It was the day before Halloween when Daphne dragged the Potter twins away from their group and made a request.
“Let's duel, Iris. Let's fight seriously. I want to test myself.”
Harry and Iris shared a contemplative glance before shrugging together.
While it was sudden, there was no real harm in accepting her request. Additionally, it would help the girls in mastering their skills. Both were level 300 witches and had reached their peak, there was no way to earn more power for them. But their fighting style could always be improved. And pitting the two against one another was arguably the better way to do so.
He would have done that already if he had the chance. But with new subjects to study, goofing around with their friends, and then doing their homework, it didn't leave much time to dedicate to training. And Iris losing her interest in fighting once she had maxed her levels didn't help.
While Harry still spent his nights in the Dungeon, only occasionally joined by Daphne now that she too had maxed her levels, Iris on the other hand had totally stopped bettering her combat ability. And he wasn't much surprised by that, his sister at her core was a lazy girl who'd rather spend her time in bed sleeping and sleeping than working on something she considered ‘having already mastered’.
“That's actually a good idea.” He said with a nod.
“Don't sound so surprised. It's my duty as the only Slytherin in the group to shower you nincompoops with good advice.” The blonde smiled wryly, pleased nonetheless at their acceptance.
“Ouch.”
“You seem to have conveniently forgotten about Tracey.” Iris giggled, a ruminative look in her eyes.
“Tracey is a loyal Hufflepuff who blindly followed me into Slytherin. She's the least Slytherin of us all.”
“Fair enough, your highness. You, ladies, can duel tonight after everyone falls asleep.” Harry answered, noticing Iris' grimace at the thought of staying awake after midnight. See, she wouldn't have made that face if they stayed awake late because they were shagging, but losing sleep just to duel Daphne was not a good exchange in her mind. She was truly a sloth.
“Okay. I'll choose an empty classroom for the venue before the dinner.” Daphne nodded, a small satisfied smile playing upon her lips.
“Forget about that. I have a special room where you can duel without caring about your surroundings. Just be ready at night and I'll teleport in your room to take you there.”
“Okay.” She said with a raised eyebrow, intrigued by his offer.
“Now that it's done, Daphne, can you give me a moment with Harry?” Iris spoke with a forced smile, resisting the urge to glare at her brother.
“Sure. Just don't start fucking like bunnies. Our friends are waiting for us in the library.” She suggested emphatically before striding out of the empty classroom and closing the door behind her.
As soon as the blonde was gone, Iris spun around and glowered at him. “What the hell, Harry? We agreed not to let anyone else inside the Room of Requirement. It is supposed to be our room. Our room. You can't just decide to invite anyone without consulting with me.”
Rolling his eyes, Harry stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her in. “Calm down, Iris. I'm not going to bring Daphne into the Room of Requirement.”
She stilled at his assurance and looked at him dubiously. “What?”
He grinned, squeezing her, and placed a fond kiss on her forehead. “As I said, I'm not going to take Daphne into the Room of Requirement. What I'm going to do instead is create another Room of Requirement for our training purpose.”
Relieved that he wasn't going to mar their special place by allowing Daphne entry, she heaved a sigh and returned his hug. “Really? If you could have done that earlier then why didn't you add that room in Potter Manor?”
“It's not that easy. While I already had the skills being a level 100 Enchanter, I lacked the required raw power until now. Something so big and versatile needs an enormous amount of mana. I reckon it took all the founders' powers, skills, and wisdom to create something this impressive.” He revealed, pulling back and taking her hand as they walked to the door.
Iris hummed thoughtfully. “I see. I demand that you make one of these rooms in Potter Manor too.”
“Demand? I think you mean request?” Harry chuckled, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway.
“I know what I said.” She stated in all her haughty grace, swinging their joined arms between them.
“Hmm, I guess now I won't feel bad for laughing at you when Daphne kicks your arse.”
Iris harrumphed, unconcerned. “Dream on. I'm not going to lose to Daphne. It has been just months since she began training while I have been at it for a long time.”
“True, I guess we'll see soon enough.” Harry mused with a mirthful smile, eager to see if his prediction would come true or not.
He had seen both of them in action and knew that Daphne was way better in combat than Iris. Although since Iris had the White Sword, Daphne could never hope to defeat her in a real fight. But this was just a duel where the hax sword wouldn't be allowed. So, the fight was definitely in Daphne's favour. Who knows, maybe his sister would be able to surprise him.
That night after greeting Daphne with a kiss, he teleported her to an isolated section of the castle that wasn't in use anymore. He ushered her towards the room that he had modified earlier in the evening.
“Make a small cut on your palm and place it on the door.” He instructed.
After that was done, he told her the password. And when she enunciated it loudly, the door snapped open.
Her first look at the room revealed that it wasn't anything special. It had the same grey walls and stony floor as the rest of the castle. Though it was a comparatively larger room and a bit narrower than the usual classrooms. Also, it was bereft of any furniture and was totally barren. And there was only one window on the opposite wall that let some light in.
All in all, it was a dark dreary room.
Iris was leaning against the window and looking at the midnight sky when they arrived. Offering them a wide smile, she hurried up to them and spread her arms in invitation. “Welcome to the ‘Special Training Divine Sanctum’. STDS for short.”
“Nice name, Iris. But no, we are not calling this room STDs. It sends the wrong message of what we are actually doing here.” Harry responded, his lips twitching in amusement.
“Yes. As much as I love you, Iris, I'm not going to share STDs with you. No offence. I just don't swing that way, or desire the diseases you carry.” Daphne added in a deadpan voice, barely resisting an eye roll.
“Get your minds out of the gutter, you two. It is STDS, not STDs.”
“Still. I don't see why we need to name this empty classroom anyway.” Daphne commented, looking around the room with an uninterested gaze.
Harry and Iris shared a knowing look. He brought his thumb and middle finger together and snapped. The distinct sound echoed around them. “I think you're mistaken. This is no ordinary room, it's a very special one.”
Daphne's eyes widened as the walls were suddenly covered by bright red luscious drapes. The floor also changed, turning granite with intricate patterns etched over them. And then the ceiling metamorphosed into a layer of crystal and began emitting soft white lights that lit up the entire room and chased away the retreating darkness.
With awed eyes, she whirled around and stared at the ornate chamber, her heart fluttering with wonder at the abrupt transformation. “What is this?”
“This room can become anything you want. Of course, there are some limits. Like it can't conjure real food or water that would provide nutrients.” Harry smiled smugly, waving his hand as furniture filled the space until it felt like an opulent living room of some manor. With another wave, the chairs and sofas vanished, providing them with an abundance of empty space again. “Go on, try to change the room. All you need to do is imagine and wish.”
Daphne nodded slowly and pointed her finger at the ceiling. Instantly, the crystal surface disappeared and got replaced by the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. And with another thought, the cool sunlight fell from above, making her heart sing in exhilaration. It felt like she was God and could do anything within the room.
For the next half an hour they played around with the room and tested its limits.
“Do you think your spell will be able to keep this room from getting breached?” Daphne questioned with a worried frown, not exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing it with her peers. Not wanting their secret room to be found.
“Don't worry about it. Only people stronger than me can override the restrictions placed upon the entrance of the room.” He assured her. And that seemed to do it for her as she lost her frown and resumed playing with the room along with Iris.
But Harry too was a little apprehensive about that part.
He had thought that other than Eos no one else was as powerful as him. That no one other than her would be able to challenge him. But recalling the memory of when Dumbledore had raised the broken wards of Hogwarts with one move had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. It was strange that even though Dumbledore was only level 160, he had been able to revive the thousand-year-old wards of the castle with just one wave of his wand.
It should have been impossible for the Headmaster to do that. He shouldn't– he didn't have that much mana. But somehow the old wizard had broken logic and reconstructed the wards single-handedly and in mere seconds.
There must be a secret that Harry wasn't aware of. Maybe the Headmaster too had some sort of instrument to enhance his strength just like the Black Sword did to him. Or maybe it was something else. He could only guess at the moment.
He was forced to be wary of the old wizard. He had thought that he had grown strong enough to ignore Dumbledore, but it seemed he had been mistaken. He shelved a dangerous idea that suddenly popped into his head. Now was not the time to drift away in his mind.
“Let's start the awaited duel. I think you have familiarised yourself with the room by now.” He announced.
~xXxXx~
Daphne turned to her side, missing the red spell by an inch as it whooshed behind her head, and weaved effortlessly through the barrage of other jets of lights that tried to pin her down.
To a normal person, this duel would be nothing more than two girls blurring back and forth and dodging tens of rays of light at an inhuman tempo, making them question what was real and what was not.
This was their real unrestrained speed at the display, that they were almost creating after images with their constant rapid movements, their limbs moving faster than mundane eyes could comprehend. But it wasn't an as equal match as it would have appeared to a normal person.
No, while they both were extremely fast, Iris was just a little faster. And that was the one thing stopping Daphne from achieving victory easily.
Their powers were exactly equal, but that didn't mean their overall strength was the same too.
Daphne was a better fighter overall between the two with her short and crisp movements, taking less time to cast her well-constructed spells. And her presence of mind was off the charts, allowing her to easily counterattack every move.
Iris' movements were more fluid and more beautiful, but they exacerbated the time required to shoot her spells. If not for her [Peak Body] Perk which gave her more edge than Daphne, she would have already lost by now. It was the only thing keeping her in the match and letting her fight back and surpass her opponent's impossible pace.
If this went on for too long, Daphne's chances of losing the duel would gradually increase since she would tire faster than Iris. Knowing that she had to finish it before her body started being sluggish, she devised a great plan.
Nimbly leaping up five feet, she swerved in mid-air and yelled, “Agni!”
A gust of red flames swept over the floor and rushed towards the redhead like a wild beast. Without flinching, Iris stood her ground, her green eyes gleaming with unadulterated power, reflecting the fire, and twirled her wand in front of her.
A simple water spell was magnified by her abundant mana, and the fires were quickly vanquished by the torrent of rain that soaked everyone and everything within the room, even Harry who was spectating from afar. From the collision of the opposite elements that devoured each other, steam hissed into existence and blurred their vision.
With a casual wave of her wand, Iris cleared the fog, but she was shocked as the blonde sprang at her from nowhere, having closed the distance between them in the meanwhile.
Iris ducked under a kick and tried to punch her in the gut. But Daphne gracefully danced away and shot a disarming spell that would have been impossible for a normal wizard to dodge at this range.
But Iris flicked it away with the point of her wand and smashed her leg against the side of the blonde's hip. If Daphne really wanted to act stupid and brawl with someone physically stronger than her then she would happily oblige and show her her place.
The blonde grunted and crumpled onto the ground, causing a victorious smile to flash over Iris' face. Thinking that she had already won, she dropped her guard and swished her wand grandly to execute a final spell.
She didn't notice the knowing smirk of Daphne who was down on her knees. And when she finally did, it was too late.
“Fall.” Daphne yelled, using her charmspeak, using her heritage.
It didn't work properly since they both were at the same level of strength, but Iris' body froze for a microsecond, unable to move when the blonde sprang to her feet and pressed her wand on her neck. If she wasn't level 300 then her throat would have burned and she would have coughed blood. But now that she had reached the peak, her charmspeak had stopped hurting her.
This microsecond was all that was needed to end the match that was taking place at a monstrous pace. This ‘infinitesimal instant’ happened as she had planned, as she had plotted, and the duel ended with her as the victor.
As promised, Harry laughed out loud at the dumb look on his sister's face.
“You both will join me tonight in the Dungeon.” He declared, walking up to them, and offering Daphne a proud smile before kissing the pout away from the redhead's annoyed face.
~xXxXx~
It was the Halloween feast, and the Great Hall was abuzz with noise. All four tables were lively with various conversations taking place in different small groups, although the selection of the champions was the common topic everywhere.
Even the head table wasn't spared. Though if one was observant enough one would find an unquiet atmosphere churning there. Particularly between Professor Longbottom and Mister Crouch who were placed farthest from one another and yet were finding opportunities to glare at each other.
“Does anyone know why that man is shooting hateful looks at my mum?” Neville questioned curiously and a bit protectively. In response, his friends just shrugged, none of them aware of the reason.
Just as he thought that he might have to ask his mum later, an answer came from an unlikely place, from Lee Jordan who was seated a couple of seats away beside Fred and George. He looked at Neville and scratched his head. “Do you really want to know? That's not a story you want to listen to while you're eating food.”
While Neville didn't like the older boy who lusted after his mum, he was ready to ignore that for a moment. “I don't mind. Tell me.”
“If you say so. Don't blame me if you get an urge to barf. So, like everyone, you already know how your mum, dad, and Harry's parents formed a vigilante group to kill the Death Eaters, right?”
“Right.” Neville nodded, already getting an idea where this was going.
The boys and girls surrounding them stopped their own talks and listened to the explanation.
“Well, Mr. Crouch's son was a Death Eater too. Though it was a secret that no one knew until he got injured and kidnapped by the Crimson Witch, Harry's mum, while he was on a raid.
“Let's just say that it didn't end well for him. Your mum and Harry's mum, uhm… tortured him to get information, and once they achieved that, they cut off his limbs and head and sent it to Mr. Crouch as a warning, who they thought was in cohort with the Dark Lord too.
“It was later revealed that Mr. Crouch wasn't actually on You-Know-Who's side. His only fault was being oblivious to his son's true allegiance. Meaning, the vigilante group was wrong in suspecting him. That incident created bad blood between them. And well, I guess he wasn't exactly overjoyed when his son, even if a Death Eater, was parcelled to him in pieces. He even tried to punish your mums for war crimes after the war ended, but they had become too popular and feared to be brought to ‘justice’.”
Neville did feel a little sick imagining his mum dismembering and decapitating the screaming man. He just couldn't imagine his sweet gentle mum doing something like that. Still, it didn't matter now. The war was over. What had happened was in the past. There was no use digging deep in her vigilante era. And it wasn't as if she had been wrong. Mister Crouch's son was a Death Eater, he must have deserved it.
Harry, sitting across from him, smiled at him reassuringly, telling him that everything was alright. That their parents had been right. And that there was no need to feel ashamed.
He nodded back, glad of the silent support of his best friend.
They wouldn't be here if their parents weren't ruthless. He wasn't going to condemn his mum for doing something she thought was right in the heat of the war. She might have been right, or she might have not. There was no use thinking about it.
The children around them were a little green, but they wisely kept their mouths shut.
~xXxXx~
As the feast ended, Dumbledore walked down the head table and stood beside the goblet of fire. He smiled as a sudden hush fell over the crowd and everyone's gaze latched onto him, waiting for the show to begin.
“The time has come. Tonight, nine students, three from each school, will be selected to participate in the upcoming Inter School Team Competition. Three teams will be made randomly, and each team will consist of three young people from all three schools. Any questions? No, good. Now, when I call your name, I'd like you to go along the side of the head table and then into that chamber where you'll get your first instructions. Let's start, shall we?”
Eager nods and ‘yes’ were his answers. Chuckling, he dimmed the lights around them until a thin darkness stretched across the ceiling and occupied the corners. The blue fire in the goblet flared red, ready to do its duty.
A piece of parchment flew out of it and the colour of the flame turned blue once again. Dumbledore caught it and peered at it through his glasses.
Everyone waited with bated breath and clammy hands, their hearts hammering against their chests.
“For Team A, the first champion from Durmstrang is Elitsa Koleva.”
A tall black-haired girl rose from the Slytherin table and hurried towards the chamber, keeping her eyes firmly down as loud applause surrounded her. As a no-name girl abruptly became popular in an instant.
She only looked up once to glance at the staff table, and although she didn't smile, the corner of her lips turned up as headmaster Aleksander shot her a proud smile and gave her a nod.
As the jubilant cheers petered out, the fire in the goblet once again turned red and spat out a parchment.
“For Team A, the second champion from Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour.”
If the cheers for Elitsa were loud, then for Fleur it turned absolutely wild. The beautiful silver-haired Veela stood up from the Ravenclaw table and ambled towards the designated chamber, only looking at her mentor, Eos Blanc, who couldn't hide her brimming joy.
It took significantly longer for the enthusiastic clappings to die down, going on and on even when Fleur disappeared into the chamber. Only the sight of the red flames caused the buzzy noise to be replaced by an anticipated silence.
As Dumbledore brought the piece closer to his face to read the name, the students leaned forward expectantly.
“For Team A, the third champion from Hogwarts is Harry Potter.”
A stunned silence swept over the entire hall, only to be broken by the loudest of cheers. Harry had to take a moment to shove away the exuberant Gryffindors who were patting and hugging him.
Laughing and smiling, he parted from them and walked towards the chamber, receiving proud looks from the staff table. Particularly from Professor Longbottom who was the most avid of the supporters. Flashing her a confident smile, he slipped into the chamber where his team was.
“That was Team A. And we have two more teams to create. Now for the second team.
“For Team B, the first champion from Durmstrang is Victor Krum.”
This time the students from Durmstrang were the loudest. It wasn't hard to discern that he was the favourite. Probably because he was a prodigy in a particular sport. And also because he was going to play professionally in the Quidditch World Cup next year.
“For Team B, the second champion from Beauxbatons is Chloe Dupont.”
She was a skinny girl with short mousy hair and a shy smile as she almost scurried away, not getting as much appreciation as the champions before her.
“For Team B, the third champion from Hogwarts is Daphne Greengrass.”
The crowd energy went wild once again. If they thought that two third-years getting selected as champions was strange then they didn't show it. And it was saying something that her own house was far less enthusiastic about her selection than the other three tables who were literally numbing their palms from vigorous clapping.
Daphne held her head high and got off the Slytherin table before marching towards the chamber, taking a second to smile at her friends and sister at the Gryffindor table.
Dumbledore patted her back grandfatherly and raised his arm to calm the crowd once Daphne was gone.
“And now it's the third and last team. For Team C, the first champion from Durmstrang is Stefan Banov.”
Stefan Banov was a sour-faced stocky boy who pushed his hands into his pockets and looked on challengingly to see if anyone was discontent with his selection, scaring away younger students.
“For Team C, the second champion from Beauxbatons is Juliette Auburt.”
Juliette smirked patronisingly at her classmates, flicking her long blonde hair to one side, unable to hide her inflated pride, sashaying away into the chamber gleefully, aware and appreciative of the lustful stares that she inspired. The applause was predictably louder from the boys.
“For Team C, the third champion from Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory.”
And the applause that had started to die down flew sky-high, and the Great Hall was quickly drowned in a roar of approval. You would hardly find any person who had any beef with the popular good-natured boy. So, the support from everyone was quite expected, even if many of them felt jealous and wanted to switch places with the champions.
“These are our champions who will compete against one another to win three tasks in this tournament. I hope you all will give them your full support. Now, I bid you goodnight. Go on, I know you must be already planning a celebration. I promise not to keep the champions busy for too long. Prefects, lead your houses back to your dormitories.”
~xXxXx~
As the selection of the champions began, Harry realised how stupid the upcoming situation would be.
The goblet was charmed to pick students with the biggest mana pool, so if his guess was right, Team A would be strongest while Team C would be the weakest.
His theory was proven correct as he saw Elitsa getting chosen. The black-haired girl was the most powerful among the Durmstrang students, courtesy of her being a level 43 witch. And he was interested to learn more about her. When Fleur was chosen next, who was level 41, all the doubts regarding his theory disappeared and he knew he would be the first one to be selected from Hogwarts.
He was proven correct once again.
“For Team A, the third champion from Hogwarts is Harry Potter.”
He chortled as his friends and sister buried him between them, Astoria being the most clingy. Kissing her cheek and quickly hugging his friends, he escaped from the swarm of bodies and readily walked towards the chamber, shooting his aunt Alice a full smile.
Then his gaze settled on Eos who appeared as if she had bitten a lemon, and he shrugged, not understanding what her problem was. It was not like he had tried to kill her again.
Walking into the chamber, he found his teammates and offered them a polite smile. “Harry Potter. Nice to meet you two.”
Elitsa shook his hand and gave a nod when he approached her. “Elitsa Koleva.”
A look of conflict swirled in Fleur's beautiful sea-blue eyes, but she proffered her arm anyway and smiled softly when he clasped it firmly. “Fleur Delacour.”
“Fleur. Elitsa. I think we are going to win this tournament quite easily.” He grinned eagerly.
The Veela chuckled at his statement while the Bulgarian simply smirked.
“Confident aren't we, 'Arry?” She quipped playfully.
He simply shrugged. “That's the first step to victory, Fleur. May I call you Fleur?”
“You can. After all, I am already using your name.” She answered with a small smile. The two then looked at Elitsa who was leaning against the wall and staring at them idly.
“Yes. You can use my name too. If ve are going to vin this then ve can't vaste time on formalities.” Elitsa nodded sagely.
Before they could continue, a new champion entered the room before closing the door behind him.
Viktor Krum nodded curtly and chose a corner, actively ignoring them and inspecting the ceiling.
“Well, he seems like a nice guy.” Harry said sardonically.
“He is just shy.” Elitsa defended her schoolmate, waving at him and receiving one in return.
“Yes, it seems like it.”
Then entered Chloe Dupont who shrunk under their collective gazes and stood away from them, occasionally glancing at them furtively.
He looked pointedly at Fleur whose lips twitched in amusement. “Is she shy too?”
“She is.”
Harry just shook his head in bemusement.
And finally, Daphne walked inside and brought the biggest smile to his face. He stepped towards her, drawing her in his arms and kissing her briefly on the lips. “I knew you'd get selected.”
“Thank you, Harry. Give me a moment, I need to go see my teammates.” She smiled back, her face colouring up, and pecked on his cheek before approaching her shy team members.
“I 'ope you won't go easy on 'er just because she is your girlfriend.” Fleur said with a frown.
“Don't worry about that. She is not going to win.” He assured her with a chuckle, looking over his shoulder at his girlfriend.
He was astonished to see how easily Daphne gathered the two and made acquaintances. Chloe was already talking with her in determined whispers while Krum listened attentively and added his opinions once in a while.
Then the last team too joined them. And from his first impressions, Harry realised that poor Cedric was trapped in the wrong team. The other boy was grouchy and rude while the girl was flirty in a patronising way. Which he never knew was a thing. It was also clear that Fleur definitely didn't like Juliette Auburt with the way she sniffed at her.
Thankfully, before the girls could collide, the headmasters and the staff hurried inside the room.
~xXxXx~
Bonus Scene
Elitsa Koleva
43/300
Fleur Delacour
41/300
Harry Potter
>300/300
Dumbledore was alarmed when he had seen these parchments as they flew out of the goblet.
What people didn't know was that he had also charmed the goblet to etch the level of mana of champions on the back of the parchment once they were chosen. It was a spell he had created to measure one's true strength. His own was 160/300.
So, he was eager to see how strong young Harry was. Seeing the impossible made him shiver in apprehension, finally getting a glimpse of how strong Harry Potter was. He hoped no one caught his horrified look when he read his name aloud. It called for further observation. He would need to keep a close eye on Harry Potter.
Consider him bamboozled when Daphne's name came with another surprise.
Daphne Greengrass
300/300
What was going on here? How did she become so strong when she was so young? He himself had trained and mastered magic but his growth had slowed down to a trickle as he had aged.
He patted the girl as she passed by him and he confirmed that it wasn't a fluke and that she really was packing an impossible pool of mana.
He really needed to keep an eye on Harry and his group.
