«Eustass Kid wins! Twenty points to Slytherin!» Marco declared, raising his hand as Bellamy tumbled out of the ring.

Your side of the crowd burst in cheers while a number of glowing green beads descended in the lower part of the big hourglass.

Four hourglasses, one for each House, had been placed in the corner of the hall for entrainment purposes, and beads in green, red, gold and blue where constantly adding to the respective pile, showing how victories were distributed.

At the moment, Gryffindor was on the lead, followed by Hufflepuff, surprisingly.

«YES!» you yelled, as Kid secured the first win for Slytherin.

A malicious grin curled the lips of the redhead.

«Sorry, senior.» he spat towards Bellamy's enraged face, before turning and joining your group.

«That was a great match, Kid!» you blurted, unable to stop smiling.

His grin faltered for a second.

«Thanks.» he quickly muttered.

«Good job, man.» Killer stated, punching his shoulder.

In the following duels, Ichiji conquered another victory for Slytherin, and you held your breath following Reiju's match, but your friend managed to win against her housemate with her usual grace.

«Yohoho! Fuoco Heat and Trafalgar Law on ring two, please!» Brook called after congratulating the Vinsmoke.

High-pitched cheers rose from the girls in the audience as Law stepped up.

«Heat, you can do it!» you stated, grabbing his arm «Don't let him scare you!»

«I'm not–»

«Yeah, man, he's just a creep. Don't mind all that "best novice" crap!» Kid added.

«I don't–»

«Sure, we believe in you!» Killer nodded, squeezing his shoulder.

A small frown etched into Heat's features when he turned to observe you all.

«It doesn't really feel like it, but thanks.»

You clicked your tongue, watching him reaching the ring.

«Do you really think he stands a chance?» Dellinger asked, moving beside you.

«No, boy, he's screwed.»

And he was indeed.

Heat had barely managed to lift his wand at Prof. Brook's start when the charm hit him right in the forehead, sending him flying beyond the ring's border.

«HEAT!»

Kid and Wire hurried by their comrade's side.

Law, on the other hand, looked almost bored. He slowly turned to the Slytherin corner, his gaze piercing each and every one of you.

You frowned, returning his glare.

I guess he wants payback for the Transfiguration bullying.

And you couldn't even blame him, honestly. However, you didn't fail to notice how his eyes stopped when they met Kid's, the redhead shooting daggers as well in his direction.

The people nearby shivered.

«You better hope you're not my next opponent, Trafalgar.» Kid hissed, helping Heat on his feet.

A smirk entered Law's features.

«I can't wait, Eustass-ya.»

Thankfully, Heat seemed to be alright when he came back to your ranks.

«Are you in one piece?» you asked, attempting a smile.

«Physically, yes. My pride is kinda shattered though.»

«Don't worry about it!» you shrugged «He would have kicked my ass too.»

Like all the other students that were eliminated, Heat waved at you and moved to the audience.

The matches continued, and you found yourself growing more and more nervous as your turn approached. Despite all your wacky experiences, you never dealt well with anxiety at first.

«Oi, Y/n.» a heavy hand dropping on your shoulder startled you.

«WHA– Kid!»

He huffed, removing his hand from you.

«You're as pale as a Banshee.»

You pouted, crossing your arms on your chest and turning to the rings.

«I'm a bit tense, that's all.»

«Yeah, I see that. Get it together, woman!»

You shot a side glare at him before returning your eyes to the matches.

Dellinger was quite impressive, defeating Tashigi. Katakuri pretty much planed Jean Bart, and Cavendish won his match against Haruta as well. Unfortunately, Wire lost quickly against Sabo, but Killer, Niji and Cracker all conquered their way to the second round.

The green hourglass was the one with the higher pile of beads when Prof. Donquixote finally called your name.

«Y/n and Shachi on ring three!»

You took a deep breath and grabbed your wand.

«Good luck, Y/n!» Killer breathed by your side.

«Don't you dare lose!» Kid echoed.

You frowned at him before marching to the ring.

Now that you were in the centre of the hall, the shouts from the crowd were even more deafening. Other duels were taking place around you, and you could hear all kind of cheers and insults being yelled from everywhere.

Shachi stepped on the ring and faced you with a resolute face.

«Now, get ready.» Corazon warned, raising his arm from the border «Three...»

Oh, shit, what do I do now? I should have spent less time worrying and more time coming up with a strategy!

«Two...»

You swallowed.

Charms that based on brute force were never your forte, and neither were the ones that required a lot of focus.

«One...»

Now, the usual way to fight in a magic duel was standing in front of your opponent and cross wands with the most powerful charms you were able to come up with, but...

Wait a second.

Of course!

I never do things according to the books anyway.

«START!»

Shachi was quicker than you thought in throwing a hex in your direction. More often than not, the quicker wizard was the winner.

But you had recently learned that non-fighting charms could be just as powerful.

The second Prof. Donquixote started the fight, you dropped on your knees, crouching on the floor and therefore dodging Shachi's hex.

The guy's eyes widened in surprise, but he was swift in readjusting his aim. Not swift enough though.

«Coniugo!» you yelled, pointing your want to his legs.

The green wire sprang towards him and around his limbs and you gave a curt tug, making him lose his balance.

«What the--!»

Shachi fell and you took your chance.

«Propello remotum!»

Just like that, the latches connected to your wand darted aside, throwing the poor Ravenclaw across the hall.

«Shachi is out of the ring! Y/n wins!» Corazon announced.

«YESS!» you shouted, jumping on your place.

«YOU RULE, Y/N!»

«GO, TROUBLEMAKER!»

Cheers rose from your mates and from the crowd, and you moved back to your corner improvising a little victory dance, that was for sure ridiculous, with the hip-swaying and the fingers-clicking, but you couldn't care less.

«And to think you were nervous about this!» Kid laughed, once you reached them.

«Well, I'm a slow starter.» you smirked up at him, hitting Killer's high five.

The redhead rolled his eyes playfully.

After you, Smoothie, Suleiman and Yonji collected new victories for Slytherin, but Sheepshead was literally annihilated by Luffy.

Once the eliminatory round was complete, principal Whitebeard stood and silence fell in the loud hall.

«Very well my hatchlings, you all performed very well! May the ones who lost today not despair, there will be other chances to shine. But to the ones who made it to the second round, CONGRATULATIONS!»

The audience echoed with enthusiastic cheers once again and even some professors ended up being not one hundred per cent impartial. You caught sight of Corazon subtly showing his thumbs up to Law, unable to restrain his grin, and Shanks was shamelessly shouting "You go, Luffy!".

«I also have to congratulate most of all with the snakes tonight: out of thirty contestants, thirteen belongs to Slytherin!»

The students in green exploded in yells of joy, jumping in their seats, and your group shouted as well, shaking close fists in the air.

«Gryffindor follows with eight contestants, then Ravenclaw with seven and Hufflepuff with two.» Whitebeard continued «Now, Madam Shirley.» he turned to the woman sitting at the professors' table «If you would be so kind to announce the matches for the next round.»

She nodded lightly and bent her head towards the glassy sphere in front of her.

A few seconds of silence followed, before she swayed her wand in the air, murmuring «Enuntio.»

Silver streams of smoke danced in the air, slowly forming the list of upcoming matches for everyone to see.

Gasps and claps followed every new revealed duel, while Marco stood to announce that, given their spectacular performance, Law and Katakuri were exonerated from this turn and skipped directly to the third round.

«Shit, I really wanted to fight that fucker.» Kid grumbled under his breath.

Many girly cheers filled the hall when it was revealed that Zoro was to face Killer soon.

«Don't worry.» you said, turning to the blonde «I think you can totally take him!»

«Thanks, Y/n,» Killer smiled, his hand resting on top of your head as he readjusted your focus in front of you «but maybe you should worry about yourself.»

You blinked in front of the smoky words that just appeared in the air.

Y/n D. L/n Vs. Scratchmen Apoo

«...shit.» you muttered, as your eyes glided to Ravenclaw's lines.

Apoo was sadistically grinning at you, passing his thumb across his throat when your gazes met.

«Looks like I won't make it to Halloween after all.»