บท 46: First-Taste-Of-Victory
For the second Ritual of the Set of Three, Harry ended up using a part of a Hungarian Horntail's Heart. The whole Hungarian Horntail Heart would have cost him somewhere around 35,000 Galleons and the gains wouldn't have been anything significant, since he wasn't planning to push the Ritual too far and lose his sanity in the process.
Additionally, the whole Heart was ridiculously expensive… He simply couldn't bring himself to spend so much when wasn't going to gain much without risking himself…
So, he settled on the next best thing, he decided to buy a part of a Hungarian Horntail Heart. Hungarian Horntails are considered the strongest species of Dragon, so obviously he decided to use a part of a Hungarian Horntail Heart for the Ritual. The part of a Heart cost him 3000 Galleons, which wasn't cheap, but he didn't complain much since he was more than satisfied with the results.
The next day after finishing the Ritual, he started to notice the improvements and that is also when he realized how much his body was holding him back… It won't matter how fast his Mind or Magic could react if his Body couldn't keep up and that was the biggest problem he had been facing…
Even after finishing the Set of Seven Rituals, his Body wasn't strong enough or fast enough to keep up with his Mind or Magic, but that was no longer the case, so Harry once again decided to challenge Jacklyn…
~~Flashback Starts~~
"Are you sure you want to taste defeat again?" Jacklyn asked in an amused tone as she prepared herself for the upcoming duel. Even though she seemed to be joking on the outside, internally, she was really nervous. Harry was only thirteen, but he was already catching up to her and she was eighteen for fuck's sake!!
In the last few duels, she had to give it her all to defeat him and he was slowly learning her methods, her techniques, just by watching her, and soon, he will overtake her… Before she started to train him, she thought that she was a prodigy, but after she saw how fast he was progressing just by watching her, she could no longer call herself a prodigy.
To be honest, it left a bitter taste in her mouth… What was even more disheartening for her was the fact that Harry still had a Liquid State Magical Core, while her Magical Core was Solid and she had to use everything in her arsenal to defeat him… Jacklyn didn't know how to feel, but she wasn't going to be a bitter person… After all, if Harry ever won, then he would win fair and square.
Maybe, she could ask him for some Ritual tips… He did acquire two vials of Basilisk Venom through her and she had been trying to narrow down the Ritual he probably used it for, but there were a lot of Rituals where you required Basilisk Venom, so she didn't have any luck there…
"Don't be too sure, Jacky. This might be the day you finally lose" Harry retorted from the other side of the training room, making Jacklyn chuckle in amusement, but her anxiety increased… She couldn't place her finger on it, but something about him seemed different today… She hoped that he wasn't pushing himself too far to gain power.
"We shall see" Jacklyn muttered and cast the first Spell. Harry simply side-stepped to dodge the Spell and returned the favor. Jacklyn also did the same and moments later, the two of them were finally casting in earnest and Jacklyn realized that she was right. There was something different about him… He was much faster than before.
The amused smile on Jacklyn's face disappeared as she stopped holding anything back… Harry also started to fight back with equal zeal… The duel continued as the seconds turned into minutes and that is when Jacklyn finally realized that she wasn't going to win… Her whole body was drenched in sweat and she was barely holding on and Harry wasn't even looking winded.
Even though Harry still had a Liquid State Magical Core, he was pushing her back… Jacklyn almost ended up laughing bitterly, but the thought of giving up so easily stopped her. So, what if she was going to lose? She wasn't going to just roll over and admit defeat… She would make it as hard as she could for him to win.
With that in her mind, Jacklyn started to attack Harry with increased fervor, but Harry ruthlessly stomped down on all of her efforts… A part of her mind wanted to scream at him for being so good, but the rest of her mind couldn't help but feel pride… Yes, she was going to lose, but he was clearly better than her…
Meanwhile, Harry also realized that Jacklyn was barely holding on, so decided to put more pressure on her… He had no idea what Jacklyn was going through right now, he just hoped that she didn't hate him after he beat her… Harry inclined his head to dodge the Stunning Charm and cast a Knockback Jinx at Jacklyn to knock her balance.
Jacklyn turned to the side to dodge the Spell, but she was too late… The Spell grazed her shoulder and stumbled back as she lost her footing. It was obvious that Harry took advantage of this situation and hit her with a Stunning Charm… A bitter look surfaced on her face, but right before the Spell hit her, the bitter look was replaced by the look of bitter acceptance…
Even though Harry wanted to beat her so badly, he didn't celebrate after winning… While he was feeling satisfied, he knew that this was probably the beginning. Jacklyn was good, but she wasn't the strongest in her age group or she wouldn't have lost in the Under Seventeen Tournament… There were bigger fishes out there and Wizards like Albus Dumbledore and Voldemort were in a league of their own.
He clutched his hand with a determined look on his face… This was only a small victory for him, so he couldn't grow conceited…
|Congratulations! I know you have worked really hard for this moment, so there is no reason for mopping around| Lily congratulated him, breaking him out of his musings, and then she started to scold him as she could probably guess what he was thinking. |Yes, it is a small victory, so what? It is still a victory nonetheless. I don't want to you throw parties or anything, but you should at least feel the satisfaction and revel in it| Lily added zealously.
|...Yes, I do feel satisfied, but I don't know if I should revel in it| Harry chuckled nervously as he finally remembered that he should probably wake up Jacklyn.
|I am not telling you to grow conceited, but I am telling you to enjoy that feeling and remember it so that you never stop working to feel the same again| Lily explained and Harry finally understood what his mom was trying to say.
Harry nodded his head with a determined fire burning in his eyes before pointing his Wand at Jacklyn, who was still lying on the floor. Harry cast the Reviving Charm and Jacklyn released a loud gasp…
"Fuccckk!!" Jacklyn gasped as she rolled over onto her back. "I lost" Jacklyn whispered in disbelief as she raised her hand and stared at her Wand solemnly. While feeling somewhat nervous on the inside, Harry stepped toward Jacklyn.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked with a hint of concern clear in his voice.
"Except for me losing my dignity, I am fine" Jacklyn quipped as she slowly stood up. "I knew that I would lose to you someday, but I didn't expect it to be this soon" Jacklyn shook her head before she released a defeated sigh. "My shattered dignity aside, I am really proud of you, Harry" Jacklyn praised him with a genuine smile on her face.
"I am glad that you are feeling like that… I was worried that you might start hating me from now on" Harry said as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.
"I wouldn't hate you for winning, kiddo" Jacklyn said as she ruffled Harry's hair with a grin. She loved the fact that Harry never complained when she ruffled her hair… "Though I don't think I can call you kiddo anymore…" Jacklyn hummed thoughtfully.
"I am still younger than you though" Harry pointed out helpfully only to receive a blank look from Jacklyn. "Say, do you want some ice cream or some unhealthy food?" Harry offered, changing the topic.
"Your treat?" Jacklyn asked as she stared at Harry skeptically. She was quite aware of the fact that Harry hated splurging gold randomly…
"Sure" Harry immediately agreed. Yes, he didn't like spending gold leisurely, but he owed Jacklyn a lot of treats…
~~Flashback Ends~~
That was the first time since Harry won against Jacklyn and from that day, he never lost against her… After that day, their roles also kind of switched since it was Jacklyn who started to learn from him, trying to improve herself. He was only happy to help… Unfortunately, Brittany never shared their enthusiasm when it came to dueling even though Jacklyn was one of her role models.
Harry had been also meaning to reveal his real name to them, but every time he tried, he hesitated and ultimately, he would decide against it… There were some other things, he wasn't going to tell them, but he still considered the two of them his best friends. As for not revealing his secrets, everyone has their own… Harry did have other friends too, but they were acquaintances at most.
In the last two years, he also learned how to use firearms… The manuals obviously helped or he might have shot himself. After learning how to use them, he realized that firearms were extremely dangerous, but thankfully even a Protego could stop a bullet. The biggest problem was the reaction time, but this is where Harry's Wand and enhanced Magical Senses came to his rescue…
His Wand would release a subtle whistle, whenever he was in danger and his Magical Senses also flared up… After a lot of arguments with his mom, he was finally able to get her permission to conduct a live experiment. As for the experiment, he mounted the handgun, which was named M1991 at some distance while he stood twenty meters away from the gun, and then he used Magic to pull the trigger.
He wasn't suicidal, so he obviously kept the aim a bit off, and that was the only reason why Lily agreed with his suicidal experiment… There were several things Harry realized after conducting the experiment. First of all, his Wand released a soft whistle just before the trigger was pulled and his Magical Senses also flared at the same time, which meant his Wand and Magical Senses could also alert him against Muggle threats…
Secondly, his mom's protection never triggered, which could mean either of two things… His mom's Magic won't work against his suicidal tendencies or it won't work at all against Muggle threats…
He needed to conduct more tests, so he decided to use the submachine gun, which was named MP5 next. Once again, his Wand and Magical Senses alerted him about the threat, but his mom's protection was never triggered… After that, he decided to test the assault rifle, which was named AK47, and once again the same thing happened… His mom's protection never triggered, but his Wand and Magical Senses warned him about the threat…
He would have loved to test the shotgun, which was named Mosseburg 500 too, but he wasn't that big of a fool… He was never going to test himself against shotgun shells. He also tested the knife and it was really sharp… So, while he didn't know any knife technique, he still started to carry one with him along with the handgun he st… *ahem* liberated from the Diavik Diamond Mines.
He also conducted a lot of tests on the Kevlar vests and currently, he was trying to replicate their properties so that he could Enchant his clothes with the properties of a Kevlar…
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