On the day of the dueling competition, I found myself racked with nerves. I was planning on jumping years, and competing with the third-year students.

I wasn't worried about my repertoire of spells. I was into my 4th-year spellbooks and had mastered useful defensive spells like the shielding spell, which would come in handy.

What worried me was the experience the others had in dueling. Dueling was like a complicated chess match. It wasn't just about overwhelming your opponent with spells, although if you were able to accomplish that, nobody would complain.

No, it was more about planning, and each spell you cast, should build to the next, and by the time you got to the end, you had led your competitor into a trap. Now, what made this difficult, is that your opponent was trying to do the same thing to you as well, so the whole match was an intricate dance of trying to outwit your opponent.

Of course, some choose not to rely on such strategies. They relied on a single spell, such as the stunning spell, and cast it over and over, trying to spam their foe into submission.

While technically a valid tactic, those who try rarely find fame in the world of dueling. No one wanted to watch a single spell be used over and over. It was boring. No, spectators wanted to see all sorts of different spells and strategies.

It was why there was a point ranking system. Wizards and witches who used different spells and strategies, would receive more points and rise in the rankings. The most talented duelers would try and invent a new spell known only to them, or at least a variation on an old spell. Not only was it more challenging for an opponent to defend against an unknown charm, using a unique spell was rewarded with more points. Of course, none of this matters if you don't win the duel.

After getting out of bed, I slipped on my new dueling robes. Turning in a circle, I asked Athena, "What do you think? They make me look badass, right?"

Athena cocked her head and gave a bleat that almost sounded like a question.

Ignoring her response, I replied, "I'm taking that as a compliment."

Heading downstairs, I found everybody in the dining room. When I entered, Rebeca's blue eyes lit up at the sight of my dueling robes.

Pointing at me, she declared, "I want a set of those robes."

Mussing her black hair, "That's easy. All you need to do is make it onto a dueling team when you get to Hogwarts. I'll get you a pair myself."

Annoyed, she leaned back into her chair and sighed, "Ugh, that's what you always say. I wish I were eleven already."

Looking towards Sasha, who was sitting next to Mum and had her nose in a book, "What about you, Sasha? Are there going to be dueling robes in your future?"

Sasha put the book down, looked up, and shot me an uninterested look, "Why would I want to do that? Dueling is play fighting. You should put your talents to better use."

I'm not going to lie, a small part of me was hurt when I saw her uninterested look. Where was the unwavering support I usually got from my little sister? I don't like this new development at all.

A little curious, I asked, "Like what?"

Sasha shifted guiltily in her seat, "I don't know, maybe the potions club."

I eyed Sasha suspiciously. Her last remark was one Mum had made before in her letters. She wasn't a fan of dueling, and more than once she tried to get me to quit and join the potions club.

Turning my eyes towards Mum, I noticed she was avoiding my gaze by hiding her face behind her Potion's Weekly magazine. What gave the whole thing away was innocent little Sasha, who was sneaking looks of approval towards Mum.

Narrowing my eyes, I glared at the magazine hiding Mum's face and thought, You must be getting old Mum, you've lost a step.

Turning back to Sasha, "Well, since I guess dueling is so boring, you can stay here. No need to spend the day watching me sling spells at my opponents."

I smirked when I saw Sasha turn her panicked blue eyes over to Mum. Receiving no support, Sasha looked back at me and pleaded, "But, I want to come."

Turning my head in mock confusion, "But, I thought you said you didn't like dueling."

After thinking about it for a moment, her eyes lit up, "I changed my mind," she declared, completely reversing her earlier statement.

Smirking, I turned to Mum, who was now glowering at me over her magazine for getting Sasha to switch teams. Leaning back in my chair, I innocently studied my fingertips.

Thankfully, Dad put an end to everything by asking, "Alex, are you ready to go?"

Eager to be on my way, "Yes, I'll see you at the dueling arena."

Not letting me go without a fight, Mum argued, "I don't see why we can't take you."

Trying not to roll my eyes, "Mum, we've been over this. I'm meeting up with the other Silver Spears at the Silver Spear's chapter house in Liverpool. It's a tradition for us to arrive at the dueling arena on the Isle of Man together."

"Fine," she huffed, clearly not pleased.

I made my getaway before she could find something else to be upset about. I was going to use the floo network to travel to the chapter house. Typically, the place wasn't connected to the system because they didn't want unwelcome visitors, but they temporarily joined it to the network to reduce travel time.

Not wanting to wait around, I made my way to the fireplace, where I found Athena sitting on the wooden mantle above the fireplace guarding the floo powder bowl with a disgruntled look on her face.

When I reached for a handful, she reached out with her paw and smacked at my hand in warning. "Athena," I rebuked. "I know you want to come, but you have to stay here."

Not persuaded, Athena moved her paw behind the crystal container holding the floo powder. "Don't you dare," I exclaimed.

Athena scooted the container with her paw to the edge and looked at me as if to say your move.

Rolling my eyes at her antics, "Fine," I gave up.

With a happy bleat, she leaped onto my shoulder and started grooming herself and pretending nothing happened.

Grabbing a handful of floo powder, I tossed into the fireplace and said, "Silver Spear's Chapter House."

A flash of emerald green flame washed over me, and the next thing I knew, I was in an unfamiliar room that had a few recognizable faces.

"Alex, happy that you made it, I see you brought company," Zack greeted with a lazy smile on his face as I stepped out of the ash-filled fireplace.

Athena bleated cheerfully, happy that she had forced me to bring her along.

Looking around the room, I saw all the Hogwarts students who were in the Silver Spears already waiting in the room. Jean Batt, the blond-haired wizard that I met at the dueling competition was also in the room, as well as a few others I didn't recognize.

Before I could ask for an introduction, Jean said, "Good, now that you're all here, we can begin. I know most of you have heard me give this spiel before, but it bears repeating. The tournament today is double elimination. This means if you do lose a match, you still have another shot at advancing in the losing bracket. Now, there are two ways to make it to the international tournament. The first is to win your bracket, and the other is with points. The top two with the highest points in each division, not counting the tournament winners, will be invited as well."

Jean paused for a moment and looked us each in the eye, "Now, I know some of you will end up competing against one another. I want to remind everyone here that outside of the ring you are on the same side, but inside is another story. If you end up facing a fellow member, don't hold back, give it your all, and if you lose, you will have another shot to make it to the international competition."

I couldn't help but glance at Mason and Harper, the two seventh years in our group. Mason was in Gryffindor, and Harper was in Slytherin, both were wearing unique dueling robes with colors that indicated their house.

Those two had been competing against one another for the last five years. From what I've heard and seen, they usually are evenly matched against one another. Both had serious expressions on their faces, this was their last year at Hogwarts, and they each wanted to do well.

Each of them was hoping to find the best mentor possible, and this would be their last shot at impressing veteran Silver Spears, who would be their dueling coach if they stepped into the professional ring.

On the far side of the room was Addison, she was in her sixth year and was proudly wearing dueling robes consisting of yellow and black robes and was twirling her brown hair impatiently.

Next to her was Zack, the fifth year Slytherin prefect. Those two would probably meet in the competition as Zack had told me he was competing in the sixth year bracket. He had won his division for the last three years and wanted tougher competition.

Turning my eyes to my fellow Ravenclaw, I saw Lelah shifting her auburn hair into a tight bun so that none of her hair would get in the way. Finally, my eyes turned to my competition, Adam. He had on robes with Gryffindor colors, and his black hair was cropped short.

I would be competing in his division with the other third years. I hadn't sparred with him much this year because I didn't want him to be familiar with my style. Unfortunately, that left me just as unfamiliar with him as well. Plus, I would be dealing with all the other third years in the Dragon Fangs, Hidden Lotus, and the Relentless Wanderers.

Turning my thoughts to the upcoming competition, I sheepishly realized that I hadn't read anything to do with the point ranking system. Curious about the ranking system, I asked, "How are points awarded?"

Jean gave me a disapproving look and pulled out a small booklet from his robe and tossed it towards me. "Make sure to look that over before the competition. If you don't win your divisional bracket, it is important to know how your match will be scored. There are dozens of ways to rack up points in a match. But, be careful, there are also ways to get points deducted from your overall score as well."

Knowing it was important, I opened the booklet and started committing the contents to memory. After finishing the book, I realized that I should have read this earlier.

There were a lot of strategies that you could put into a match. There were dozens of ways to maximize the number of points you could get in a duel. A clever person might even make it to the top of the ranking without making it to the finals. I gave a mental shrug, the most important thing was winning, and I was planning on making it to the end.

In the back of the book was a list of banned spells and curses as well as a warning that the use of any curses designed to inflict permanent harm would result in the offender having a lifetime ban in the sport.

Soon, it was time for us to leave, and Jean gathered everyone around an old rubber tire. "This is a portkey that will take us to the arena on the Isle of Man."

Seeing everyone nod, he said, "Alright, grab on now."

I reached out and grabbed hold of the tire with my right hand. I was a little nervous as I remembered from the books that this method of travel wasn't that pleasant.

A few seconds later, I felt a hook jerk my navel, and my feet left the ground as we swirled through time and space in a whirlwind of colors, just as I was getting used to the sensation, my feet slammed into the ground, and I promptly fell on my ass. "Merlin's Sweaty Arsehole," I swore. "No wonder most people only like to use the floo network, apparition and portkeys suck."

It seemed as though Athena agreed with me because she was glaring at the tire like it was her new mortal enemy. Not content to glare at it, she swiped it with her claws shredding the side of the tire. After dishing out what she deemed enough punishment, Athena returned to my side content that she had shown the tire who was boss.

Still on his feet, Zack laughed, "First time using a portkey?"

After I nodded, he explained, "If you don't brace yourself for the landing, you'll end up on the ground every time. Once you do it a few times, you'll figure it out.

Getting up and dusting myself off, I realized we were in a valley near a small mountain. Not far away was an old stone structure that would look abandoned if not for people heading inside.

Once we were ready, we all headed inside. As I watched the building grow larger, my excitement grew. I couldn't wait for the competition to begin.