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"Professor, what is that?" Harry asked, as Flitwick paused momentarily.
"Oh yes, I forget not everyone has seen one of these. This is a pensieve, a magical device used for allowing others to view memories, there are two types of pensieves, private-viewing and public-viewing. Private-viewing pensieves have you stock your face in a bowl, and you view the memories inside there. Public-viewing pensieves display memories above and around them, allowing for multiple people to view the memory at once. As such, this pensieve is a public-viewing pensieve." Flitwick said. Hermione wrote down a few quick notes, and underlined the phrase 'learn more about pensieves' under them.
The viewing began with Harry's first match against Thomas from Austria. Harry paid close attention to his reactions to Thomas' attacks, and jotted down a few notes about his form and counterattack options. At the end of the viewing, Flitwick turned to him. "Mr. Potter, do you see what you did wrong in this match?"
"I was too afraid of my opponent, and went on the defensive despite his numerous openings because of his overextended wand motions." Harry said, looking at what he had written down. While the duel was only a minute of actual casting, Harry could have ended it much sooner by simply being more aggressive. Thomas was simply too flashy to handle any kind of pressure.
"Very good, your confidence in general was lacking throughout the tournament. I believe that you may have defeated your final opponent if you had more confidence in your abilities. I take partial responsibility for that, as I have not had the time to properly prepare your mind for the duelist arena." Flitwick said, swapping out the vials. "Here is your match with the Irish boy."
This match was much higher paced, and longer by nearly half a minute. Harry jotted down more notes about his performance before the match ended. "I elected to go offensive here, hoping that it would counteract his high-speed spell slinging that he had done in the prior match. I don't believe I was choosing particularly good spells for the offense though." Harry said.
"I understand where you are coming from, and agree that going on the offensive against him was likely the best option. Your spell choice is adequate, but more immobilizing and debilitating spells would certainly help more. We discussed Petrificus Totalus last year during your training, I believe it would have been an exceptional spell to use against him. Your confidence here was also lacking, leading you to not take as many shots as you could. If you intend to go on the offensive, you need to commit to it, and fire off as many shots as you can. Especially when attempting to disrupt an opponent like this. Here is your final match." Flitwick said, swapping out the vials for the final time.
Harry was nervous about reliving his match with Ivan. While the boy from Ireland technically was more aggressive with his spell usage, in that he simply through more spells than anyone else by a wide margin, Ivan's spells were both more direct and more powerful. Harry watched as he once more tried to go on the offensive, but was thwarted at every step by Ivan's overwhelming skill, only managing to slip him up with his two blinding spells. Harry watched his final gambit play once more, and did find some joy in watching Ivans face flex with the impact of his shoe.
"Beyond issues in confidence, I don't think there is much I can tell you about how to improve in this match. Ivan was a superior opponent, having both more experience and a broader repertoire of spells. Had I known that there would be competitors capable of casting stunners at this tournament I would have found the time to teach you that spell as well, but as it was I believed that your arsenal was acceptable. This is a failing on my part as a coach. Next year you and Ivan both will be competing in the Hippogriff cup. You will also be facing duelists with even more experience, due to the age bracket being a year older than you. We will need to train harder to prepare." Flitwick said, closing down the pensieve.
"You did really well Harry." Hermione said, squeezing his hand.
"Yeah! You did great! That shoe bit was funny, especially seeing Ivan's face after it hit." Daphne said, wrapping him in a hug from behind.
"Yes, I too found banishing the shoe into Mr. Krum's face to be rather amusing, as well as a brilliant bit of ingenuity. Your quick thinking will serve you very well in future tournaments Mr. Potter. For now though, please enjoy a rest. I will need to prepare a list of spells for you to practice with in order to improve for the next year." Flitwick said, as he shrunk the pensieve to fit in his pocket.
"Thanks professor. I will keep doing my best." Harry said, giving a determined look to his head of house.
"Of that I have no doubt Mr. Potter. Now if you will excuse me, I must be off. I have assignments to grade." Flitwick said, as he left through the door of the Sphinx Club room.
For a few days, the girls had made sure Harry was riding high off of his performance in the tournament, working to build up his confidence, not only in himself, but also in his abilities. With that dying down however, life began to return to somewhat normal. The Sphinx Club hadn't made much headway on how to effectively counter a Basilisk since they lacked access to roosters, and even then Harry and Luna hadn't heard anything from the creature for quite a while, it seemed like they were stuck.
In Herbology, the class was trimming some Spiky Prickly Plant, a task they had performed previously, but were required to do so again because they had grown too wild. Harry, Padma, Hermione, Daphne, and Tracey had just finished trimming their plants when they overheard Malfoy speaking with Crabbe and Goyle.