Harry Potter: Returns Back From Game of Thrones (ASOIAF) - 41

Chapter 41: After the Duel

Malfoy was already waiting when they arrived, his two bodyguards also present.

"I thought he'd be too scared to come, maybe even report my whereabouts to Filch," Ron whispered.

"You think Malfoy's too cowardly, don't you? Wasn't the duel his idea?" Hermione felt Slytherins couldn't be that dishonorable.

"Hard to say. Slytherins have always been cunning and underhanded, without honor. Especially these recent students—using any means for victory. I've heard George and Fred mention it many times. Didn't you hear this year's Sorting Hat's new song? Too many Slytherins like that... I didn't expect Malfoy to be quite honest—he came earlier than me. I have a slightly better impression of him now. He's still got some spine."

Harry thought it depended on the situation. If nothing was wagered, Malfoy might really stand Ron up. However, having repeatedly misjudged Hogwarts-related people, Harry didn't dare be certain anymore. Maybe Malfoy truly valued honor after all.

Because Malfoy also feared being caught by Filch, he seemed very anxious. The duel proceeded hastily.

Nothing like Harry imagined—no dramatic exchanges, no theatrical posturing. Instead, after simply greeting Harry, the two boys began dueling immediately.

This duel between Ron and Malfoy could only be described as a complete mess—quite far from Harry's expectations.

Though he knew Ron liked exaggerating and had some understanding of his true level—young wizards' charm proficiency was universally weak; he knew this from observation—Harry didn't expect actual combat to be even weaker than Ron's boasting suggested.

They barely produced any sparks. They were casting spells without proper power—and these two were talking about dangerous magic?

That shouted "Avada Kedavra" was even worse than the one Voldemort had botched on baby Harry. Though Voldemort hadn't succeeded at killing, at least there'd been dramatic green light filling the room. This attempt didn't even emit green smoke—they were purely shouting curse names to frighten each other.

Seamus using Lumos had greater destructive power than this pathetic display.

Harry had originally thought they'd get heated fighting, both using their best spells or family magic. Then he'd have to quickly step in and save people—deadly duels between students might not be protected by Hogwarts' safeguards.

But nothing. Nothing at all. At most just barely functional minor jinxes. Weren't they both purebloods? Where were the family secret techniques? Did such things not exist in this world? Was I overthinking their capabilities?

The final result devolved into hand-to-hand combat.

"Charge!" Ron shouted.

Ron, by throwing his wand aside to swing his fists freely, gained the upper hand and managed to subdue Malfoy through sheer physical grappling.

Wands were burdens during brawling. Unlike Harry, who could already use grass, wood, bamboo, and stone as deadly weapons, these boys naturally discarded their little sticks as hindrances during close combat.

This is the advantage those ancient battle-mages had—physically hitting people with massive staffs still hurt considerably.

If Malfoy had brought that kind of combat-ready wand, he might have won. Between unarmed and armed fighters, there's a significant advantage.

Or more straightforwardly—just bring a weapon from the non-magical world.

After Malfoy fell to the floor, Goyle and Crabbe did want to help their leader. Looking at the referee—recently rumored "Thunder Hand Harry" with his intimidating presence and obvious combat superiority—thinking it over, they decided against it.

Since Ron and Malfoy had repeated the rules before dueling—no seconds allowed, must fight with wands only, no physical contact permitted.

Strictly by the rules they'd established, Ron, who initiated physical contact first, had violated regulations. If the referee were Professor McGonagall, she'd probably judge Malfoy the winner—of course that was hypothetical, since she'd definitely stop such dangerous behavior first.

But now Harry was referee.

"The victor is Ron Weasley."

He'd wanted to declare that.

Looking at Malfoy's nearly pleading eyes, plus they were all still young children—too much harsh judgment seemed excessive.

"Draw. No clear winner. Too dangerous here to continue—no overtime match. Consider you both won. Malfoy, buy Ron a proper wand—consider it my friendship fee."

"Mr. Po... Mr. Potter you agreed to be my friend?"

Malfoy thought this opportunity was lost again. He hadn't expected such a turnaround. As for the small expense of Ron's wand, that was nothing to his family.

"Probationary friend. I think we need a very long inspection period. After all, we haven't had any pleasant experiences together. This is just honoring the wager. Of course, another reason... I believe you're not fundamentally a bad person."

Malfoy blushed, waving his hands awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Not daring to look at Harry anymore, he told Ron somewhat stiffly, "Weasley, you fought well today. Next time I'll definitely beat you properly."

Taking his companions, he hastily left the trophy room—somewhat like a comedic villain making his retreat.

Harry's group also returned toward Gryffindor Tower.

The duel location had been on the school's fourth floor. This time bringing Ron and Hermione along, they walked relatively slowly. Harry's senses extended toward the fourth-floor forbidden corridor Dumbledore had mentioned—there was definitely an extraordinary magical power emanating from that direction.

Intuition told him that location might offer opportunities to increase his Magic attribute.

Equivalent to ten Bronze attribute points in value. Currently his 2 points of Magic were considered profound among [A Song of Ice and Fire] mortals but weren't particularly outstanding in the [Harry Potter] magical world. If he could gain more power, Harry definitely wanted to. Harry would never think he possessed too much strength.

Though even thinking with his toes, that protected item should be Dumbledore's possession.

What Hagrid had mysteriously—actually not mysterious at all, practically openly—retrieved from Gringotts that day.

But Dumbledore was far more formidable than Gringotts goblins as a guardian. Since it was his treasure, directly using brute force to tear apart magical protections seemed inappropriate.

First he should figure out what that object was. Hagrid seemed not particularly clever—Harry could definitely extract more information... but bullying Hagrid like that seemed wrong somehow.

But since even Hagrid knew about it, if Dumbledore were truly very intelligent, maybe he was subtly hinting that Harry could investigate?

So complicated—Harry didn't want to overthink everything.

Why not discuss with Ron and Hermione, formulating a plan to discover Dumbledore's secret?

...Seven hells, too unreliable! They're just children.

Harry told Ron about that small package seemingly transferred from Gringotts to Hogwarts, mentioning that the object was likely in the fourth-floor restricted corridor. They spent considerable time guessing what item needed such elaborate secret guarding.

"It's either particularly valuable or particularly dangerous," Ron said thoughtfully.

"Or both," Harry added.

But regarding that mysterious object, the only things they could confirm were that it wasn't very large and could fit in a small package—possibly with spatial expansion magic—and Harry could sense it presumably possessed very strong magical power.

Too many magical artifacts fit that description. Without more clues, guessing its identity proved impossible.

Hermione seemed completely uninterested in what the forbidden corridor hid at first, but Harry assigned her to check reference books during study periods, researching powerful magical treasures and artifacts.

Hermione now mostly ignored Ron, feeling he'd corrupted Harry's better judgment with this treasure-hunting scheme.

Harry had no intention of forcing his strategic advisors to reconcile—as long as their conflict didn't delay important matters, their rivalry might even prove productive.