Harry Potter and the Potter Grimoire

Chapter 15: Waters of Despair vs Fires of Victory

This chapter starts immediately from the last.

Victor rolled across the sand, wincing as a blast of water left a crater where he stood before. As he popped up, he flicked his wand twice, once towards the man in front of him blasting water based "spells" at him, and once towards the ship that was his home for his stay at Hogwarts. The charm he sent towards the man fizzled as it hit a screen of water, as the man muttered "Protego."

Viktor growled as he launched a curse. Ever since he had appeared, the man had launched water at him, some with enough force to gouge holes in trees and rock, as the terrain could testify. "What are you?!" Viktor grunted in frustration as with expert precision, his curse was blasted by a jet of water, causing an explosion of steam.

"Viktor, I am hurt! Do you not remember your darling grandfather!" Striding forward, the man swirled his wand around his head, using water to form tigers and lions that he sent towards Viktor.

Fleur circled her opponent, a woman closely resembling her grandmere. A shield rose in response to the flick of her grandmere, an arc of water splashing harmlessly against it with a muttered "diffindo."
"My dear, please, fight me. Show me that my hair in that wand is put to good use. Show me that you are worthy of it." Her grandmother smiled as she used precise swift motions to send six jets of water, with tinges of red. Fleur growled, vowing to destroy that cup, as she started to duel her grandmother, the wand in her hand flashing with shields, charms and curses. Each attack soundlessly parried by the apparition wearing her grandmother's face.

The crowd in the Great Hall were in shock at the task that the champions would be forced to face. They gasped when the duels began, and then stayed silent to watch the spectacle, with only Clyde and Ludo commentating. Sirius however shook with rage. Cedric grabbed him by the collar, making sure he didn't move. "He will be okay." The young man said to the former resident of Azkaban.

"That blasted cup brought them!" Sirius hissed, his eyes flickering black for a moment. There was nothing he wanted more than to get up and launch curses at that blasted Goblet.

"Yes, it did. But we knew that it was a terrible piece of work, and we knew it was going to be bad when the date was pushed back. " Cedric's voice was calming, thought his fist was clutched so tightly that his knuckles popped audibly. "Look around Sirius and ask if you are the one most upset here."

Sirius did as the Hufflepuff advised, looking around the Great Hall. He saw Minerva at the head table holding a fork that was slowly turning the consistency of clay as she lost control of her magic in brief spurts. He saw Albus with his hands folded in front of his face, seemingly unfazed, if one didn't see the hatred and fury in his eyes. The sight that stopped his rage cold however was the look on Severus Snape's face.

Severus looked at the image from the Goblet, locked in place. His shields around his emotions slowly crumbling as She launched endless amounts of charms and curses at her own son. His hands trembled as he saw a flash of red hair, and a tear ran down his face. He jumped when a hand touched his elbow.

Hagrid frowned at the Goblet, but moved towards Snape. Gently placing a hand on the Potion Master's elbow, he shielded the man's breakdown from the public with his bulk. Severus whispered,"He has to kill her..."

"Its nah her Severus. It isn't her a' all. It's tha cup, and Harry's smart. He'll kno' tha." Hagrid barely spoke aloud, knowing that Severus would hear him. After all, Severus heard most things.

Shutting his eyes firmly, Severus began to actively Occlude for the first time in years. As he instructed Harry, a Master Occulmens would never have to actively occlude unless under high stress. He mentally scoffed as he stuffed his emotions back behind their walls, building memory locks and corridors to block off that section of his mind once more. In under a minute, he was completely under control.