Chapter 73 - Dueling with Professor Flitwick

Harry fell on the ground, exhausted and defeated without much effort on the International Dueling Champion's part.

He had stopped using his self created weapons and his cloak to support himself and only used his wand during his duels with Flitwick which was probably the main reason why he'd never won a single spar against his professor.

If he used the used his hybrid magical weapons and his magic repelling Cloak, then he would most likely win the duels but then he would not learn anything from the Professor.

Flitwick was just… better than him. And far, far more experienced.

Not to mention that he never used his wandless magic during any of their battles either.

If he did then he would have probably won a few of the duels but that was his trump card and he was not willing to reveal it for something simple like a training duel.

"That was wonderfully done Mr Potter. Wonderfully done. Few students in Hogwarts are capable of standing against me for as long as you did." Flitwick said jovially and words went a long way to soothe some of his pride. But of course, pride was not the important thing here, despite how much he valued it.

Skill was.

And he could feel himself getting better and better everyday.

Every time he fought against Professor Flitwick, he could feel his spells getting faster and faster.

By this point, he was proud to say he could almost match Flitwick spell for spell. Not that it saved him since most of his spells were simply batted aside easily of missed completely because of his bad aim. But he was learning. Slowly and Steadily.

The first time he had fought Flitwick, all he could do was run around like a headless chicken, hoping to dodge all the spells thrown his way and failing miserably regardless. That is no way to win. You cannot hope to dodge all the spells and win a duel like that. Sooner or later the spells will hit you. They always do.

Now, he at least had enough presence of mind to create a shield of some form and send some attacks of his own.

Now a days he was capable enough to think a few steps ahead in advance. That didn't help him much against Flitwick who was capable of thinking a dozen of steps in advance but he had made progress and that was the most important thing in his mind.

He stood up and dusted himself off. The habit remained despite the fact that his robes never got dirty anymore because of the dirt removal charm he applied on them.

Trying to wipe dirt from your clothes where there was no dirt in it might make you look like a fool sometimes but it'll never harm anyone.

But if he didn't get strong soon enough, then he was sure that his loved ones would die in the coming war.

And a war coming.

He knew that because even if he had all the pieces to stop the war, he wouldn't do so.

The magical world was corrupt to the core and no amount of negotiations or manipulations will change that.

No, the wizarding world needed a wake up call.

A wake up call that their time is about to end. And that if they didn't change, then they would be left behind by the times.

Because he had seen the future.

He had seen how humans invented mobiles in the near future that could easily capture any image or video of a wizard flying around. And he had seen how the Internet took over the world.

Not when every person starts walking around with a Smartphone and internet access at all times.

And when the new dawn arrives and the muggles come to know of the existence of the magical world. And understand their part in the second world war, they would not take very kindly to this hidden society. (Note- Grindelwald took a huge part in the 2nd world war.)

A hidden society which actively looks down on everything that was muggle.

At that point, a confrontation would happen between the two world and countless innocents will die.

He knew that if the wizarding world is not ready for the new dawn, then the whole wizarding race might get wiped out in the near future if they maintain their condensending attitude of the non magicals.

So he knew that the wizarding world needed a war.

A war that he would have to win so that he could take over and create a new government that would be willing to work with the non magical government.

So that he could make the non magicals his ally and not his enemy.

He looked at the three training dummies the room presented him with and let out a smile.

It was the first time the room had generated three dummies for him. Till now he only received two. He guessed that it's Hogwarts way of telling him that he's improving.

But even if he was, he was improving very slowly.

Flitwick had 2 decades of more experience than him. And Voldemort had 4.

He would not be able to defeat them in five years if he continued like this.

That was why in a real fight, he would have to rely on weapons like his enhanced gun and magical defense like his robes to aid him in the battle.

Because he was genius when it came to creating such items and he would be a fool if he did not take advantage of his strong points.

He let out a smile as he saw the three dummies circling around him like vultures vying after a piece of meat.

He knew that this session will be even more exhausting than the last ones but he would pay that small price if it meant he could get better in the long run.

As soon as he completed the apparition, Hermione promptly bent down on the side and emptied her whole stomach.

He had heard that side along apparition can be disorienting for inexperienced people but had not thought that it could be so bad for someone.

He bent down and pulled her hair back from her face and gently rubbed her back.

He had never been in such a scenario before and had no idea if he should say something or not.

If should then what should he say?

The choice was taken out of his hand as Hermione stopping puking and wiped her mouth with a handkerchief before looking at him apologetically.

"Sorry." She mumbled weakly "I don't know what happened but I don't think that side-along apparition is for me."

"Oh. Don't worry." He said as he gently cupped her face "This is not your fault. In fact, disorientation after your first apparition is a very common thing among wizards."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a frown.

"Skipped my mind." He said honestly.

"Why did you bring me here with you when you could have done this yourself?" she asked irritably and he held a sigh.

This journey was already not going as well as he had thought it would but such was life.

"I wanted you to get a taste of apparition. So that if you ever wanted to learn how to do it, you would at least have an inkling about how it should happen and not panic when trying to perform it." He explained.

At his explanation, her annoyed expression disappeared and she mumbled a silent 'thank you' while looking both grateful and a bit apologetic.

"Anyway. Let's do what we came here to do." He said and led her outside the dark alley to a rather empty street with old and dilapidated buildings.

"You sure this is the best place Harry?" Hermione asked as he took out the trunk from his pocket and let it regain it's original size.

"Absolutely." He answered and that was enough.

"Selena. Do you sense them here?" he asked to his oldest companion who was resting comfortably on his shoulders.

"Yes. A lot of them." She replied and he gave her a nod return before setting up the trap above the nearest sewer line outlet.

He knew that an empty trunk lying around in an empty street would catch attention so he applied a few notice-me-not charms and muggle-repelling charms before she turned to Hermione with a nod.

"We're done here."

"Would we have to return here for the trunk?" Hermione asked and the crease in her forehead showed that she didn't like the idea too much and he didn't fault her for that. Side along apparition can be unpleasant.

"No." He shook his head "I'll ask Bitty to retrieve the trap after an hour."

Hermione nodded at that and he gave her a smile before giving her his elbow.

She frowned a bit at that but held onto him regardless.

"Don't let go." He said before they apparated back to Hogsmeade from where they took the secret passageway to Hogwarts and returned before anyone could notice Hermione's absence.

Author's Note:- Harry learning how to duel from Professor Flitwick and setting up the trap for catching the rats whom he would use as test subjects in the future for the more dangerous experiments.

Hope you guys like the chapter.

And if you like my work and have a bit of cash lying around, then please support me at:- pat reon.com/ankit1