59 Unraveling Motivations

On the day of the Finals, Draco was met with surprise from his friends – Daphne and Theo arrived to cheer him on during the last day of the competition.

"Honestly, it's a perfect excuse to get away from all those boring gatherings – I don't understand, how can my parents stand it?" complained Daphne after she greeted Draco and settled down to have breakfast with him.

"I don't know whether I should feel offended or amused at the fact that you came here only, in your words, 'to get away'," the blond boy commented wryly as he buttered his toast.

"Probably amused… After all, you didn't have to suffer through Pansy's delusions about her future husband, which, if Daphne is to be believed, are 'simply vomit-inducing'," interjected Theo with a light smile hidden behind a cup of tea.

Daphne sent a dark glare the boy's way and turned her attention back to the blond Slytherin.

"You can laugh it up, Draco, but a lot of Pansy's fantasies strangely coincide with some characteristics you also seem to possess… Those mysterious gray eyes, like a fog in a dusky morning, and that blonde hair, which looks like acromantula's silk…" she imitated Pansy's high-pitched tone and even threw in a few giggles at the end to complete the impression.

Draco instinctively shuddered and unconsciously moved his chair slightly away from Daphne – her acting was just too good!

"Alright, don't give him mental problems until after he finishes with the competition," advised Theo seriously.

"Ah yes… being a friend with a winner is better than being a friend with a person who almost won. Sorry, Draco, forget everything that I said for now. I will tell you all about it later~" Daphne smiled sweetly in his direction and picked up her own teacup.

Draco was turned speechless – he didn't want to hear any more of the strange gossip about Pansy, be it now or later!

"By the way, your opponent is the girl who won at previous year's Championship, right? Are you confident?" asked Theo suddenly.

"I do have a few tricks up my sleeves that I haven't used yet. Though, admittedly, she is rather skillful… and very strange," replied Draco with a frown. Honestly, he was a bit worried about the upcoming duel, but he also felt that there was a huge chance of winning.

His skills grew considerably in the duration of the competition – after all, he met a lot of different opponents who used different kinds of magic and had different dueling styles, habits, advantages and disadvantages. As such, his judgment and experience also improved – he could react a lot quicker in critical moments, and his body was beginning to move instinctively as a response to the opponents' actions.

"What do you mean by 'she's strange'? You seem to be familiar with her," inquired Daphne with slightly furrowed eyebrows.

"I met her once last year, but it was a very brief meeting… When we once again saw each other this year, she acted in a friendly way - just like before. However, I caught her once looking at me very coldly – like observing an enemy," explained Draco and added with a wince: "Though now that I am saying it out loud it sounds like I am making a huge issue out of nothing…"

Theo's expression was considering, but he also didn't seem to know what to make of the situation.

Daphne's face, on the other hand, showed understanding:

"Isn't it very simple? You, boys, should really get more familiar with the way that girls think, otherwise you will be eaten alive later."

Draco and Theo's eyebrows rose simultaneously as they looked at the dark-haired girl. Seeing that she was silent, as though waiting for them to realize everything on their own, the boys exchanged a glance between themselves, as though saying: 'Do you know what she's talking about? Because I don't!'

Daphne heaved a loud sigh, seeing the uncomprehending expressions on her friends' faces.

"That girl is clearly trying to get into your good books by appearing all friendly and probably even encouraging. It's so obvious! By playing with your emotions, making you think about her and having a good impression of her in your mind – she's clearly hoping that you will hesitate when facing her in the duel and may even unconsciously let her win!"

What Daphne was saying seemed logical, but Draco felt that the reason was rather improbable.

"Why would she concentrate her efforts on me? It's not like she knew that I would be her last opponent, right?"

Daphne almost rolled her eyes but refrained from succumbing to the inelegant urge. Instead, she asked with a slight exasperation:

"She's friendly with just you, or everyone else too?"

"I think that she has a good relationship with most other competitors…" Draco's eyes narrowed as he tried to recall. "After the last duel with Obadiah from America, the boy didn't seem to be angry at losing to her and even left the arena with a smile."

Daphne nodded and continued:

"When did she start interacting with you more?"

"Probably… after I became my Group's winner," replied Draco with a look of gradual realization.

"Then there you have it," concluded Daphne with a small shrug. "That one time when she looked at you with 'coldness', as you expressed it, was probably a mistake. Who would have anticipated that an eleven-year-old would advance so far in the competition? She probably already had some friendly relations with other potential winners and your unexpected appearance ruined her hard work. Thankfully, she was slightly familiar with you already, so it wasn't like she had to start from zero. At least, that's my interpretation…"

"Girls are scary," muttered Theo after a long silence.

Draco fully agreed.

---

After they finished breakfast, Draco and his friends separated. The blonde boy had to go to the competitors' area, while Daphne and Theo were led to the spectators' stands by Abraxas.

Draco felt like his mind was clear of all the distracting thoughts after the conversation with Daphne. Although he had logically known that Anastasia's behavior was strange, he would have never drawn the same conclusion as his friend!

For the first time since he arrived into this world and got introduced to his peers, he felt like people his age were becoming mature and could be depended on (at least with small things). Previously, he had always unconsciously looked at other children, be they the same age as himself or older, in a slightly superior and maybe even condescending way.

It wasn't like he thought that he was better than everyone else, but he knew that he had more experience and knowledge than those around him – often even adults weren't more intelligent than himself. As such, it was no wonder that he often considered his own opinion on different matters to be the 'correct' one.

Honestly, Draco still thought that he knew better than most of the other people. However, he realized that sharing small burdens with others would allow him to form a better picture of the happenings around him and help him release some of the weight he had in his heart.

"Ah, Mr. Gentleman! Do you feel ready for our long-awaited duel?" Draco's silent musings were interrupted by a familiar melodious voice. "I almost couldn't sleep at night from the excitement and anticipation I felt! I hope that you won't be gentle with me just because I'm a girl."

Anastasia wore a light smile on her face as she looked at Draco. She seemed genuine in her excitement, yet when she said the last words, there appeared a slight shadow in her eyes.

Now that Draco had the girl's motive for approaching him in mind, it all seemed very obvious. Her words seemed sincere and harmless, yet they dug into one's consciousness like an invisible poison.

A normal puberty-experiencing boy would have been wrapped around her fingers with no effort. Just mentioning 'being gentle in a duel because she's a girl' already formed a mental block which would unconsciously remind one that 'girls were weaker' and 'one shouldn't use full strength'.

Even if one's mind was disciplined and wouldn't be affected, the emotions that Anastasia seemed to be executing would make one reluctant to diminish the smile on her face by defeating her.

She was a skillful manipulator, Draco admitted to himself with slight admiration – but she wasn't the only cunning person in this room!

"Anastasia," the young Slytherin smiled and performed a half-bow in greeting. "I also cannot wait for the duel to commence. As last year's champion, I had no doubts that you will be in the Finals… I won't make a mistake of looking down on you – on the contrary! I have been preparing for our duel for a long time."

Draco observed with hidden satisfaction as the Russian girl's expression slightly cracked before once again offering him a smile.

"That's… good," the girl said with an almost unnoticeable twitch in the eye. Clearly, she wasn't excited that her opponent would take her seriously and came fully prepared. "Oh, I believe the announcer will be requesting for us to go to the arena in a moment. I will meet you there."

'She's still too inexperienced,' Draco thought to himself with a slight smirk as he observed Anastasia's leaving figure. 'But she's only thirteen and she already performed well enough until now…'

---

Draco and his opponent stood on the arena facing each other for the last time that season. The judge, as always, sat at the side as he prepared to observe the duel.

Finally, when the announcer finished introducing the finalists and otherwise raising the atmosphere in the stands, the judge shouted out for the duel to begin.

This time, Anastasia decided to use not only her Grimoire but also her wand. It was a rather non-standard way of combat unless one was experienced in different ways of channeling magic at the same time. After all, to use the Grimoire, she had to not only flip the pages but also touch them with her hand while putting some magic through it to activate the spells.

This was cardinally different from the way that one used a wand. After all, the Grimoire didn't consume much magic and channeling spells through it required a stable and small amount of power.

However, different spells required different incantations, motions, and levels of power – it was hard to wave a wand in one hand while trying to stably channel spells through Grimoire with another.

But Draco was unsurprised at the girl's decision – Koldovstoretz was rather well-known for its students who were proficient in using the Grimoire and the wand at the same time. However, no matter what she used – he had observed a lot of her duels and knew most of the spells recorded in the magical book as well as the pages on which they were written.

Having a talent in Mind Arts allowed him to observe his memories over and over again – an ability which he used to prepare for the duel last night. A witch or a wizard could only have one Grimoire, as such, the order of written spells and what they were couldn't be changed at moment's notice.

This could be considered as another disadvantage of a Grimoire, though not many people would be able to use. After all, most didn't have the luxury of observing the spells written in it before the battle (or have a memory to remember them all).

But Draco could never let such an opportunity go when it presented itself so readily!

As such, the beginning of the exchange of spells was rather one-sided – Draco allowed Anastasia to attack him with her Grimoire and exhaust the spell supply in the magical book (which definitely wasn't infinite). Although the girl tried to surprise her opponent with a few interesting spell combinations of her wand magic, it wasn't like Draco hadn't observed it as well before.

The duel quickly turned to the young Slytherin's favor.

However, Draco's spells also weren't too varied or powerful – no matter what, he was only a first-year. The Blood Shield didn't work against an opponent such as Anastasia because she liked using many different kinds of spells. While everything else that Draco could use was very standard.

Draco quickly waved his wand to turn the ice, which suddenly appeared underneath his feet, into water. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another spell coming his way, which he dodged with a graceful spin – all the while continuing his wand's motions and gathering the water into a few bullet-like shapes, which were promptly sent Anastasia's way.

Although the magic looked complicated, in fact, it only required a slightly better control and very basic spells. And Draco was well-known for his control from all the practice with training wands and wandless magic he went through before.

Anastasia dodged the dangerous projectiles, though her subsequent spells were interrupted.

Draco didn't pause for even a second as he quickly sent a few cutting curses her way while conjuring a fireball with his hand.

The first few spells were dodged, but the fire was unexpected and the Russian girl's hair was slightly singed in her attempt to avoid it.

Anastasia silently gritted her teeth and sent a glare Draco's way.

The blond boy sweat-dropped – I only burned a few hairs on your head and it's not like you turned bald… Is there a need to look at me like I killed your father?

The Russian girl clearly didn't hear Draco's thoughts because her attacks turned more ferocious when her appearance was threatened.

The blond boy was beginning to feel slightly exhausted – he alternated between using a wand and casting some unexpected wandless spells throughout the whole duel. And while his opponent was similarly gasping for breath, it didn't seem as though she would be hitting her limits any time soon.

"Legilimens!" he shouted suddenly.

The spell took Anastasia by surprise – it passed her hurriedly conjured shield and hit her in the chest.

Draco wasn't very experienced in using Legilimency yet, however, his family's talent laid in this area and he already began practicing it a year ago with his tutor. As such, he was in a better position when fighting a battle in a mindscape than someone who only knew some basic Occlumency.

The young Slytherin didn't try to completely shatter or get through Anastasia's mental shields. Instead, he made a show of trying to destroy the protections while opening his eyes and casting a wandless Disarming charm her way.

When the Russian girl wanted to instinctively open her eyes and defend with the Grimoire, he once again put pressure on her mental shields – thus diverting her attention and making her choose: was it more important to win the duel, or defend against a mental attack because of which her secret thoughts and memories may become known?

Obviously, it was the latter!

Draco made use of the opportunity when Anastasia's attention was all diverted to her mental protection – with a wave of his wand-hand he canceled the Legilimency spell and quickly sent a binding one her way while she was still disoriented.

With no way to channel her magic through the Grimoire or the wand, Anastasia automatically lost the duel and Draco became one of the youngest champions in European Juniors' Cup.

The stands burst into applause and the already familiar feeling of victory and satisfaction swept over Draco.

He had won.