Harry Potter And The Phoenix King

First duel

Lily's portrait had once told him even though she was a great duellist herself; James was still the strongest duellist except for maybe Albus Dumbledore, Voldemort, Charlus Potter, Arcturus Black and Gellert Grindelwald. His father had been trained by his grandfather and their then Defence Professor Melhys Brass.

Harry wore light clothes enabling him to move freely and had a good energizing breakfast. He then took the wand that he chose 3 years ago and fixed it in a wand holster another gift he received. Though the wand was quite good and gave sufficient results, he felt that he could not achieve his complete potential with the wand. Harry then took the portkey to the Black Castle.

He went to the living room where he noticed Arcturus and Melania drinking some tea. Harry grew close to both of them and viewed them as his surrogate grandparents, not to mention Arcturus helping him in his occlumency training; Arcturus was rather well versed in the mind arts.

"How are you Harry" Melania kindly asked, she and Sirius adamantly wanted Harry to stay with them and not alone but in the end they respected Harry's decision.

"I am well thank you, it appears I am early today" Harry replied.

"Yes, Bellatrix and others will arrive after twenty minutes. How is your occlumency training" Arcturus asked.

"I am halfway done on my mind palace. By the way any advice for the upcoming duel" He replied.

"Good progress, as for the duel is being unpredictable and quick, Bellatrix is very proficient dueller. Do not be disheartened if lose" Arcturus told him.

After some chatting they went to the training room of the castle, Bellatrix was already present waiting with all the other family members sitting in the gallery. The training room in the Black Castle was spacious, with high ceilings and enough room for a duel. The room was woven with wards to prevent any damage to the building. Bellatrix stood at one end, her wand at the ready, and Harry positioned himself at the opposite side, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. The atmosphere was charged with anticipation.

Bellatrix gave him a confident grin and said "Are you ready, Give your best duel and do not hold back"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he replied, gripping his wand tightly.

On the count of three the duel began. The duel began with a simple Stupefy from Bellatrix, which Harry easily deflected with a Protego. The exchange of spells intensified as Harry retaliated with a Disarming Charm, attempting to catch Bellatrix off guard. She swiftly sidestepped, countering with a stinging Hex that Harry narrowly dodged.

The duel continued, spells flying back and forth between the two. Harry was holding his ground, showcasing the defensive spells he had learned during his training. Bellatrix, however, effortlessly deflected and countered each spell, her laughter echoing through the room. As the duel progressed, Harry decided to try something different. He aimed his wand at a nearby dummy, transfiguring it into many needles and hurled it at Bellatrix who smirked, unfazed, and with a wave of her wand, she redirected the needles to Harry. Harry grits his teeth and transfigured the needles back to the dummy and the duel continued. "Nice try, Harry," she said.

Harry, not discouraged, attempted a more complex transfiguration, turning the floor beneath Bellatrix into a patch of quick sand just near below Bellatrix, Harry had just perfected this transfiguration spell two weeks ago. Harry thought this would disorient Bellatrix, however, she adapted quickly, using a Hover Charm to stay above the slippery surface.

The duel took an unexpected turn when Harry cast a charm Solareon that shone brightly in the room, momentarily disorienting Bellatrix, this was the advanced version of Lumos maxima that shone as bright as many highly intense lasers. Seizing the opportunity, he cast a stunning spell, hoping to catch her off guard. Bellatrix, however, reacted with lightning speed, deflecting the spell and retaliating with a powerful Expelliarmus. Harry's wand flew out of his hand, and he found himself disarmed.