My heart goes out to you.

Now, why not take your mind off the pain at the computer screen, typing away to get the rest of the chapter out for your flock...?

 

You are cruel, Jbern! That was, in every sense of the word, a teaser. The duels were interesting on their own, Gabby being a brat and now I am thinking evil thoughts on you for leaving us on such a cliffhanger.

Can't wait for the chapter.

 

Cant wait for HJ to lose the match against Fleur.
I can see him on the verge of winning and then getting beat in a rookie style

 

I don't think that'd work. Fleur needs to learn some degree of humility - or at least respect for Harry - in order for the relationship between the two to move forward. If he were to lose this duel, that might never happen.

Narion

 

Narion does raise a fair point.

I mean, her opinion MAY have been justified if he was "Just Harry", or JH.

But he's clearly stronger and more skilled, even if it takes a while to see it.

Fleur is also very arrogant, or maybe just prideful. She has to be knocked off her high horse to see what Harry is really like.

The sad thing is, Harry doesn't really have an opponent he can truly cut loose on. There's no way for him to truly flex his magical muscle.

Yes, I grant the Duh-strang girl would be difficult, but if you think, Harry has roughly 14 years worth of Magical Education, 10 from a different perspective and an Auror/ Duellist.

Whilst his magical core may not be as large as James, (Core envy, anyone?), he is tricky enough to make up for it, what with the skills of James Potter at his fingertips.

Regards
Aerin

 

I don't see HJ losing via a rookie mistake, lest we forget James did his own share of professional dueling. On the contrary he is probabaly the most experienced person in the contest, with the girl from Durmstrang a close second...

I doubt Krum did much professional dueling with Quidditch taking up his time....

~Matt

 

Actually in chapter 3, at the bottom it says

So with Harry being stronger than James ever was, with professional duelling experience,, experience in life-or-death situations (remember he duelled Voldemort before his death and escaped, James also had experience against Death Eaters), wandless magic and with Harry having pushed himself to his limits, even Dumbledore says about HJ's transfiguration skills in chapter 9 that

in that same chapter HJ defeated Barty Crouch Jr. (a fully trained Death Eater who would likely know far more dark magic than anyone from Durmstrang) and Winky.

Furthermore, in chapter 7, when dealing with the Imperius curse HJ says

Also in chapter 7, when training HJ says

Also, as for the duels themselves, in the previous chapter it said

In short, I would be very surprised if anyone manages to touch HJ in this competition, he has more power than all of them, more experience (formal and in actual battles), Auror training, greater spell knowledge, wandless magic and to top it off, they underestimate him. Conclusion, HJ for the win!

 

And he has the bet hanging over his head.

Never a good thing to deal with. It'll make his desperate, if it comes down to it.

Makes me wonder why people don't take a more objective eye at duelling.

Permanent sticking spell to someone's feet, anyone?

 

Nice teaser Jim, can't wait for the rest of it! I liked the bit with Gabriel. It seems every fic I read Gabriel is a cuter, more palatable mini-Ginny: "Harry Potter is my hero, he's going to sweep me off my feet and marry me, etc."

Nice to see her portrayed as hero-worshiping her older sister instead. Just try to steer clear of the "annoying little sister" cliches later on when the HJ/Fleur ship takes off.

 

What, do you mean to imply I type like a woman, thus must be a woman, and will one day make a wife to someone?

Audible sighs that come from that aside, I just think that completely embarrassing someone with the direct harassment that someone else focused upon them (the hat making fun of Fleur for learning cleaning spells first year) would be the most amusing and efficient way to embarrass a dueler without showing any real knowledge of anything aside from a magical upbringing (which many people seem to believe Harry has, thus making it even more plausible).

I don't know which should offend my senses more, the fact that you've attacked my masculinity or the fact that you didn't see the humor in beating a woman with cleaning spells in a duel.

 

Well...like Kwan says, "Cookie will make good wife someday"

/score

 

*points and laughs* Insults to your masculinity? You're kidding me right? That was a love-tap compared to the ass-rapings that are usually handed out. I do rather like the idea of beating her ass with cleaning spells, but once again, she wouldn't have any respect for HJ at the end of the bout. She would still consider him a "leetle boy" with more power than she had previously thought. Somehow, it has to be worked to where she doesn't feel *TOO* bad about losing. So, he has to win and at the same time make Fleur feel like she may have just accomplished something.

 

Nice preview. I look forward to the rest of the chapter.

I'm of the opinion that Harry will win the dueling event. He is almost certainly the most powerful and, thanks to his fathers memories, he's also the most experienced. Plus everybody is underestimating him. Dueling should be the one event he wins straight up every time. Not that it'll be a cake walk, but he should be better then his opponents.

In terms of the plot... not only did he just finish last in the flying event, but there will be plenty of other tasks for him to lose in the future to keep things interesting. Besides, the long term enemy is Voldemort, not the other champions. How is Harry going to face Voldemort if he can't beat seventh years? Albeit highly talented seventh years.

On a side note, I admire the fact that Jbern responds to every review, good or bad. I reviewed Bobmin’s story The Power of the Press a week or so ago. I gave a long and thoughtful response. I wasn’t even all that harsh, gave some constructive criticism. I basically told him that while his writing was better then most fan fiction authors in terms of mechanics, the story and characterization lacked subtlety. Not only did he choose not to respond but he apparently opted to delete the review. It's no wonder his storytelling hasn't improved much since he wrote Sunset Over Britain if he can't handle a bit of criticism.

 

HA!

I don't think Fleur will develop respect for HJ by getting beat, regardless of how he does it.

If HJ wants respect he is going to have to earn it. And he can't afford to earn it until he's facing Durmstrang, Krum or otherwise. If HJ wants anyone to respect him, then THAT is where it will and should occur (the way Krum's written, if HJ shows too much ability too early, Krum WILL be ready; consider their differences in ages and the size of their cores... if Krum sees a HJ more than prepared to face him, he'll be ready with a strategy to wear him down).


"Fleur, I told you, the correct pronunciation is tair-GAY-oh, not ter-GHEE-oh, how will you ever make a good maid if you can't learn simple cleaning charms?"

You can not tell me HP landing constant cleaning spells on her and reminding her of her inadequacy would not frustrate this Fleur beyond belief, enough to make a mistake, leaving her open to simple spells such as stupify or expelliarmus.

EDIT: I shouldn't post late at night.

 

Fleurs' friend warmed up to him when he lost the race.
All i'm saying is that he could be one move from victory and Malfoy could distract him somehow.
Maybe it could be the twins. Might have overheard the bet and decided to try to make Harry look like a fool.

 

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate this view of Krum? He isn't fluffy, no matter how JKR portrayed him.
I can't see a school with Durmstrang's reputation (esp. having been headed by Karkaroff) as a place that produces "nice" people. Krum is aggressive, morally grey, and HIGHLY motivated to win. He's aimed at a professional career in Quidditch, and he knows that he carries the reputation of his school and his country. He's also DAMN good. He's a Champion by right - not because someone tampered with the rules. (Did anyone else notice that hint that the Delacours used their influence to get Fleur chosen?) Krum is tough, he's skilled, he's smart, he's ruthless. His future is riding on his victory here.
He's an arrogant jerk, but his arrogance is well-founded. He is undoubtedly Harry's most dangerous opponent.

Thank you, JBern, in Oh So Many ways.

 

Yes, Krum was one of those JK Rowling convenience characterizations more than anything else.

An arrogant Krum never would have bothered with Hermione, and we know that was ever so vital to her master plan of showing Ron's two year long jealous hissy fit that equated to attraction...erm I guess.

A young sports prodigy born in the wizarding world would have no choice but to be an arrogant, and mean hearted bastard like jbern has done. One could envision Harry being cut from the same cloth given the proper environment to utilize his skills... Krum is Draco, with talent and some bite to back up the bark. It makes sense, and it makes for enjoyable reading.

~Matt

 

I think some people here are overly obsessed with the "Harry will beat Fleur with cleaning charms!" meme. Fleur's not stupid or incompetent - The time that Harry would potentially spend firing off cleaning charms at her, Fleur would use to do something worthwhile.

Now, maybe using some form of cleaning charm to dust her off after HJ drops her, sure. But not during the actual combat, unless it's something dual-use, like Aguamenti (sp?).

 

JKR only ever learned to write one hero properly. The reluctant one.

Harry Potter
Dumbles against his big bad dark lord
Krum hating his fame
Fleur seemingly hating her veela charm

None of her truly "good" characters wanted fame, power, wealth or even much appreciation for what they do/did. Dumbles was the closest, and only in the final book did we see that characterization.

She knows how to tell stories. She just sucks at exploring characters and giving them actual depth and diversity (declaring a character gay is NOT diversity).


But I agree wholeheartedly on Krum. I enjoy a grey Krum more than some nice guy who hates his fame and fans.

 

I'd even go so far as to say that JKR struggled writing Harry at all. Sure, she nailed reluctant hero, but reluctant or not, Harry would have done something to prepare for the fight he can't get out of, right?

Anyway, I want to point out that Harry's loss in the race isn't what helped Fleur's schoolmate to warm up to him. He showed great flying skill during the race, and instead of acting like an overdramatic leetle boy and attacking the man who cheated him, he followed advice and went with the subtle slight instead.

Fleur may not learn respect for Harry's character simply because he beats her in the duel, but she will learn to respect his skills. The bet could be a good way for something more to develop, but I doubt it will be a cliche or over-simplified hook up that stems almost directly from his win. HJ never has things go that smoothly for him, does he?

I've got to agree that this Krum is much better than JKR's, but I also think that an agressive character doesn't always have to speak up, or make threats. Think about Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. He was arrogant, highly skilled, agressive in the way he aproached people...but knew that doing things quietly can be more intimidating. I'm hoping that as our Tournament proceeds, some of our 'champions' will grow up a little.

And Joschneide, the 'wonderful wife' comment was mostly a joke, and should have been taken that way. If I were truly trying to flame or otherwise insult you, I'd have gone with something much more harsh. But, then again, if you feel so insecure about your masculinity that you'd admit offense after that very limited insult, I'd hate to see how you respond to a real one.