Chapter 128: Scandal
A new day and a new opponent. Nothing interesting, or so I thought, until Dumbledore approached me before the fight.
"Headmaster?"
"I have news. Your opponent has loaded himself up on potions, so be careful."
"Shouldn't he be removed for that?"
"I would like to... but he paid the judges a great deal, so they're ignoring it. Though I and many others can see it. If you want, I'll intervene, but..."
"No need..."
I shook my head.
"...I have only one question. How much did he pay them to let him fight in the first place? Usually, judges fear magical backlash since they've sworn rather strict oaths, but here..."
"A great deal. I don't know where he got that much money, but..."
Dumbledore shrugged.
"...that American clearly didn't skimp. Still, it doesn't matter. What matters is that if we don't put such rich boys in their place now, it may end badly. We need to show that mastery trumps potions. Can you handle it?"
"Yes."
I nodded confidently.
"Quickly and mercilessly, or slowly and mockingly?"
"I can't advise you, but I think the second option might be better."
I nodded knowingly, then waited until I was called to the platform and watched my opponent walk forward with a confident stride. *Interesting, what kind of potions did he drink? Felix Felicis? That's not a cure-all... no, of course it can lead to victory, but only if you can really achieve it. And if you yourself are a nobody, with no name to speak of...*
Meanwhile, the judge began reading the rules, and I listened with a faint smile. My opponent, by all appearances, was ignoring the judge entirely. Was he really that confident in winning? Still, that sort of confidence is typical of idiots who think they've found a way to cheat the system.
"Begin!"
My opponent casually pointed his wand at me and was just about to cast a spell when I unleashed a flurry of stinging spells, targeting the hand holding his wand. But it wasn't just stinging spells; there were also sticking spells designed to keep him from dropping the wand.
*So it was Felix after all...*
I watched as the boy swung his arm too wide while preparing to cast a spell at me, lost his balance, and fell onto the platform right where he'd been standing. But several spells still hit their target, since there were so many of them.
Still, I held back, and the boy himself hadn't figured it out yet. He rose slowly, anger and even hatred evident in his eyes.
He swung at me again, and I unleashed another barrage of minor offensive spells. Once more, his wide swing made him lose his balance and fall, allowing a cloud of spells to pass over him. Naturally, he couldn't dodge all of them.
He began to rise very slowly, casting suspicious glances at me, but I once again did nothing, simply waiting for the next swing.
As he swung again, I sent another cloud of minor spells at him. The boy fell again due to his own clumsiness, while muffled laughter rose from the stands. People still didn't understand what was happening, but they found it rather amusing.
"How dare you!"
The boy got up again, and for now, he didn't raise his wand at me.
"You're nothing, so just lose already!"
He swung again, and the boy fell onto the platform once more. Now one of his eyes was stung or bruised, and it had started to swell.
This time, the laughter was much louder. It seemed the boy would become rather infamous. The catch was that if I made one mistake, I could lose. And that, I had to admit, was enough to keep me on edge.
Incidentally, the judge kept glancing at me in surprise. I wondered if he was surprised that I hadn't taken him down yet, or that the potion-enhanced fellow basically couldn't do anything.
He swung at me again, and I sent another cloud of minor spells at him. This time, the boy anticipated my attack and tried to dodge, showing that he had even basic dueling skills. But it was useless, and some of the spells hit him again.
"How is this happening?!"
He stood up again and stared at me with hatred, but there was fear in his eyes too. He hadn't realized it yet, but he was afraid.
"Training, boy..."
I didn't move a muscle, watching him closely.
...you know, I respect training very much, training that brings interesting results. For example...
I saw the boy swing and brought a heap of spells down on him again, some of which hit their mark. Once more, he ended up lying flat on the platform.
"...You learn to create spells, for example, shields. You know, those very shields that can reflect the simplest spells, like a stinging hex, without any problems."
I smirked openly.
"What the hell?!"
He scrambled to his feet, ignoring my words entirely, even though I had explained my secret to him. Or perhaps he simply believed that potions could grant him power that training could not? No, if he were at least a champion-level fighter from the first group, a luck potion would give him a significant chance of victory, but he...
This time, judging by the flick of his wrist, he planned to conjure a shield. But who would let him, with that kind of spell creation speed...
"You! You bastard!"
The boy leaped up. In all the times I had sent him sprawling, he hadn't managed to cast even one more spell. Now he was furious, or more precisely, he was terrified of me, and his furious shouting was an attempt to mask that fear even from himself.
"How dare you act this way?! How are you doing this?! I drank a luck potion before the fight!"
The judge's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He clearly hadn't expected this idiot to give himself away.
"Stop!"
The judge raised his wand, and a barrier sprang up between me and my opponent.
"Tournament participant Charles Smith is disqualified. He has confessed to using forbidden potions!"
"That was not what we agreed! I paid you enormous sums to ignore this! We have a contract! So, if you are prepared to lose your magic, then you may interrupt this duel."
He smiled unpleasantly, and I saw the judge grimace. His own magic was clearly beginning to press down on him.
"Oh, come now... let's show the spectators that no potion can replace mastery..."
I waved to the judge, and with visible relief, he removed the barrier between us.
The fight continued with the second participant's consent. Fight!
"Now I'll..."
The boy was easily knocked away by a flurry of small spells, leaving him covered in small bruises. He ended up back on the platform.
"...so far, I haven't seen anything interesting... Or were you relying only on potions? Did you really not train even a little?"
"Are you going to lecture me too?!"
He was clearly angry.
"Of course I am... You came to the tournament thinking you could win with a potion..."
A mocking smile spread across my lips, and this time, when the boy tried to swing, I sent a bone-breaking spell into him.
"A-a-a-a-a-a-a!"
He fell onto the platform, screaming in pain. The fingers on his non-dominant hand were crushed, and I stood watching him as he screamed. It seemed he still didn't understand what had happened to him. More precisely, he didn't realize he couldn't release the wand from his hand.
"Well now... get up..."
I made a gesture with my wand. I didn't expect him to get up on his own, so I simply raised him with that gesture. After setting him on his feet, I sent several more bone-breaking spells into him as he stood swaying.
This time he couldn't even dodge, so another volley of spells slammed into his body, and he screamed in pain again.
"Well now... don't you want to throw the wand away?"
I kept him from falling and once again cast a couple of bone-breaking spells. However, despite my disdain for him, I cast the spells quite deliberately, so as not to cripple the boy for life. Though many in my place would have simply killed the opponent without a second thought...
About thirty minutes passed, after which I laid his broken body on the platform, breaking his wand, which was still clutched in his hand.
"Now we are finished..."
"The winner is Draco Black!"
The judge let out a sigh of relief.
"And yes..."
I put my wand to my throat.
...I hope this becomes a lesson for everyone who wants to tarnish the noble art of duelling by using potions. Here, you must win with your own skills. If you want to prove yourself while under the influence of potions, then challenge someone to a duel. And next time, I won't go easy on a specimen like this...
I nodded toward my opponent, who lay on the platform, whimpering and crying out in pain.
...to a duel, and I won't be so gentle next time. I'll turn you into a cripple who will never hold a wand again. I hope everyone believes me, because in such dangerous times, I don't intend to create more cripples.
I removed the wand from my throat, breaking the spell that amplified my voice so it could be heard throughout the stands. However, as I descended, an enraged woman was already running toward me.
"You! How dare you do that to my son?!"
"Everything was within the rules."
I smirked.
"And if you try to bribe the judges to pin a violation on me, I can always appeal to the Guild. They won't just kill the judges who took the bribe; they'll uproot your entire House, root and branch."
The woman flinched.
"Simon!"
Her screech made my ears ring slightly, and soon a man appeared beside her, tall and clearly someone who took care of himself.
"Kill him!"
The man sighed and looked at me sadly.
"Forgive me, but my mistress has ordered me to kill you, and I am obligated to carry out her will."
He drew his wand and aimed it at me, but his wand hand was severed from his body before he could cast. Bella was already standing behind him, wand at the ready. The man simply grabbed his shoulder where his hand had been moments before.
"It seems you Americans have grown far too insolent. Perhaps I'll hire fighters from the Battle Magic Guild to wipe your House out entirely. Draco, you don't mind, do you?"
"No..."
I shook my head.
"...I don't mind. In such difficult times, beings like that need to be eliminated... or perhaps it would be better to pay for capture instead, so they can be sent to the sacrificial altar."
"I'll show you..."
The lady didn't realize that strength was no longer on her side.
"All right... let's go..."
"I am not finished!"
The lady snatched her wand and hurled something dark at me, but the spell slid harmlessly over my protection. Bella, as if she'd been waiting for exactly this moment, shattered the wand in her hand, and I simply immobilized her without any fuss.
"Bella, take her to our dungeons. She'll be the first offering from her House representatives. Interrogate her first and seize everything her House has: money, library, artifacts, absolutely everything, so even if we miss someone, they won't be able to cause us any trouble."
"Understood..."
Bella smiled bloodthirstily, immobilized the man with a quick wave of her wand, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"...but really, you should learn interrogation and everything else too..."
She looked at me questioningly.
"Well, I don't mind, but then her interrogation will have to be put off for a bit. The fights will continue, after all, and I'd like to watch my future opponents."
"Of course, don't worry about that..."
Bella cast a couple of spells, and then she and the two bodies vanished.
"Um... Mr. Black, what should be done with this?"
The judge, who had approached us, nodded toward the boy who had already passed out from pain.
"Well... he needs to be questioned, and it would be better if the organizers handled it, to figure out how he even managed to pull this off."
I smirked.
"And afterward, you may deal with him as you see fit."
"All right..."
The judge nodded, and soon the boy's body was carried away. I returned to my place, where all the newly arrived girls were looking at me disapprovingly. But Summer was already quietly explaining to them what had happened, how, why, and for what purpose, so there was hope they wouldn't start making trouble.
"But still, that's too much..."
Yang closed her eyes, clearly restraining herself from even more emotional outbursts.
"...you can't treat people like that. First crippling the boy, and then doing that to his mother, who was only worried."
"Yang..."
I sighed.
"...let me clarify something for you. Anyone born into a sufficiently wealthy family, or simply a noble family, or even just born into the magical world, absorbs certain concepts with their mother's milk. And one of those concepts is that you must answer for your words and actions. Yes, people like my recent opponent may believe money can solve everything... but sometimes they run into people like me, and then..."
I smiled weakly.
...their road comes to an end. And before you condemn me, think about this...
"Yang, if he behaved that way at an international tournament, then how did he behave when he was sure he wouldn't be found? Or identified?"
Yang frowned at Blake's words.
"Are you defending him?"
"No..."
The catgirl shook her head.
"...I'm merely saying I can try to understand why Draco acted the way he did..."
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