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The next day after that stark realization, Harry dove into the library to search for a way to destroy the Philosopher's Stone or, at least, anything that might have some information on the mysterious artifact. It was a Saturday, so there weren't any classes he had to attend, so he spent hours in the restricted section. Having the invisibility cloak made it easy to avoid Madam Pince and any senior students that were in there with permission.
All he found were some theories from other alchemists on how Flamel might have created it. None of them were ever substantiated.
By the end of this spree of research, all Harry could think of to destroy the stone was to try and overload it with magic to try and blow it up. That or corrupt it with a curse to make it lose its ability to make the elixir of life.
It didn't make Harry feel very confident.
Still, he wasn't too upset about not finding anything. It was a shot in the dark anyway.
Harry snuck back out of the restricted section and went to join Hermione. She was here in the library already, in her usual isolated corner. When Harry joined her, she was in full study mode for the upcoming exams. Several books were open across the entire table and she was writing furiously in her notebook.
"Hey, Mione," Harry said, plopping down onto the chair next to her.
She didn't even glance up, still writing in her notebook. "Hey, Harry."
Well, at least he wasn't ignored.
Harry relaxed in his chair for a few minutes, watching as Hermione poured over every topic, before he sighed.
He was bored.
It wasn't just Hermione. Neville, Susan, Daphne, Blaise, every single one of his friends were now cramming for the upcoming exams, even Dean and Saemus! Except Ron. He was busy helping Hagrid with the dragon.
With everyone so busy, he had nothing to do until later this evening, where he had the study group he put together and then his dueling practice with Flitwick. He could try to help Ron and Hagrid, but trying to wrangle a venomous flame spewing dragon didn't sound very fun.
'Whatever, I'll just go play some Final Fantasy,' With that thought, Harry stood up with a stretch, said goodbye to Hermione, who waved him off without looking, and went back to his dorm room to get his gameboy.
~~ ITW, H ~~
That evening, after helping his friends in the study group, Harry went to dueling practice with Flitwick.
"Good evening, Professor!" He said as he entered the room.
"Ah, Harry! Welcome, I trust you've had a good day so far? Not getting into too much trouble are you?" Fliwick welcomed.
"Only a little, Professor. Nothing too crazy," Harry smiled.
Flitwick chuckled, and he hopped out of his chair and came around to the front of his desk. "Well, are you prepared for this week's duel?"
"Of course, Professor," Harry said, flicking out his wand from its holster.
As usual, Flitwick cleared the center aisle with a wave of his wand for them to have some space. "Then let's begin, shall we?"
'Ruptura!' Without further ado, Harry cast a shield-breaking charm.
During this duel, Harry made sure to put into practice the key weaknesses he identified in his fight against Quirrell. He used a more varied spell repertoire, and made sure to keep on the offensive with spellchain after spellchain.
Of course, Flitwick didn't make it easy for him. With the Professor's extensive experience, he could break up Harry's flow and put him back on the defensive when he felt he had enough time in the lead. As a Professor, Flitwick wasn't too concerned with winning or losing. His main focus was to ensure Harry had practice in all aspects of dueling, and that meant occasionally putting him on the back foot or allowing moments of triumph.
Though admittedly, it was getting harder and harder for the short Professor to take back control of their duels. In the beginning of the school year, Flitwick hardly broke a sweat (Metaphorically. He was hardly a young lad anymore). Now, Flitwick had to actually work at it. Flitwick learned early on that he couldn't let Harry stay on the offensive too long. The boy had a certain magical momentum to him. Each spell he casted hit harder than the last. Combine that with his Legilimency, and the boy was a monster.
This time around, Harry actually managed to land, not just one hit, but two before Flitwick decided the duel's gone on long enough and ended it by disarming him.
Flitwick sighed in relief and dabbed at his sweaty brow. "Phew! You've gotten stronger again, Harry. I dare say if you keep this up by next year, no, by the end of the summer, you'll get a win off me!"
Harry summoned his wand back to him, then casted some cleansing spells to clean himself back up. He gave a small chuckle at the Professor's words. "Only if we keep sticking to the U-15 circuit's rules. I can't imagine how difficult you'd be if we played by the adult circuit's rules."
Flitwick gave a sad laugh, and sat down at the foot of the stairs leading to the student seats. He idly twirled his wand in his hands. "Ah, well, not too different actually. I don't like the more dangerous spells… not anymore at least. There's a reason I've retired from the dueling circuits, Harry. My last tournament… got a little too intense and, well, my opponent never made it back home."
"I'm… sorry to hear that Professor," Harry said. He had known Flitwick had retired far earlier than many other duelists did, but he hadn't realized it was for something like this. Deaths weren't uncommon in the dueling sports. Accidents can always happen. A shield fails at the wrong time, a spell hits in the wrong spot, and a wizard dies before they can get treated. It's not uncommon, but it's still a tragedy whenever it occurs. For someone as kindhearted as Flitwick, Harry could see how that would take him out of the sport.
Flitwick sighed. "Yes, well. It was decades ago now. Forget about me. I do believe that you're wanting to enter into the U-15 tournament this summer, correct?"
Harry nodded. He had been planning to enter before he had even entered Hogwarts. Entering, and winning, these tournaments did several things for him. It would play into his image as the boy-who-lived and increase his popularity in the wizarding world. That would be important for when he was playing politics. It also helped him gain experience in combat, for when he would inevitably fight against death eaters. There was the prize money, but he was rich anyway, so that didn't do much for him.
Lastily, it just sounded like fun.
Flitwick continued. "I've decided to stand in for you as your coach. You'll be needing one if you want to join. You could have Sirius Black stand in as your guardian, but I believe you could use someone more familiar with the dueling scene. Would that be alright, Harry?"
Harry beamed at him, "Of course! That's perfect, Professor, thank you!"
Flitwick beamed with pride. "Think nothing of it, Harry! It's the least I could do. You have a monstrous potential, it'd be a waste if you accidentally get yourself disqualified for something avoidable."
"Yeah, I wouldn't want that."
"Then I'll go ahead and handle your registration. Tournament starts mid July, but registration ends in a few weeks," Flitwick hopped back up and made his way to his desk. "I've got the papers here, I do need you and Mr. Black to sign this consent form. You make sure he gets it, and get it back to me as soon as possible. Don't you worry about anything else."
Harry took the paper and stashed it in his pocket.
"Actually, Professor, I wanted to ask. Do you think Hermione could join us during our practice sessions?" Harry asked. "I've been helping her out, and she's gotten quite good at it."
Flitwick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm sorry, Harry. Right now I have far too many responsibilities. As it is, I hardly have the time to help you. I am running two clubs after all. This eats into my personal time."
Harry sighed. As he thought. "I'm sorry, Professor. I am grateful for all the time given to help me." Without Flitwick's help, he wouldn't have been able to do so well against Quirrell. He would likely have had to reveal some more of his abilities.
"I'll tell you what," Flitwick said gently. "Next school year, I'll give over one of my clubs to another teacher. That way, I can devote more time to this. Hermione can join us then. Who knows? Maybe we can even start up the dueling club again! Won't that be fun?"
Harry grinned. "That sounds great!"