Harry Potter: Magic and Guns

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On the last day of April, the European regional preliminaries for the Youth Wizard Duel Tournament were held in Austria. In addition to the three major European schools—Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang—several smaller regional magic schools and institutions also sent participants to compete.

Compared to the "kindergarten-level" competition he participated in during his first year, the duel tournament for young wizards aged 17 to 25 was far more intense. The three European regions, divided by the major magic schools, saw a total of 1,100 participants this year.

The preliminary round, which began at the end of April, was the most grueling phase of the competition. Over two days, participants had to engage in a total of seven matches to accumulate as many duel points as possible. The top 32 wizards on the leaderboard would advance to the next stage—a brutal elimination round involving 96 competitors from all three regions—scheduled for mid-May.

Ultimately, 96 wizards from 12 global regions would qualify for the finals of the International Youth Wizard Duel Championship on June 1. Over the course of a week, they would vie for two titles: the champion of the 1v1 duel arena and the winner of the large-scale free-for-all elimination match. Unlike the individual duels, team competitions were excluded from the championship due to the significant differences in magical systems across countries, which would make such matches unfair to certain regions.

While team duels did exist in regional tournaments, their scale and popularity often rivaled, or even surpassed, that of the international championship. Many wizards preferred the collaborative excitement of team events, where teamwork and synergy often resulted in more thrilling matches than individual competitions.

At nearly 13 years old (technically 14, and practically 15 or 16 in demeanor), Harry wasn't at a major age disadvantage. Although he had studied magic for five to eight years less than most participants, Harry was confident that he could make up for this gap with his superior equipment and magical power.

After modifications to his ebony and ivory wands, Harry had to admit that he didn't dare aim them at anyone casually—lest a misfired spell accidentally obliterate someone. This was especially true for his ebony wand. While Hogwarts encouraged dueling and even permitted it on campus, the supposedly sturdy magical barriers meant to prevent serious harm couldn't withstand the wand's piercing power. For Harry, those barriers might as well not exist.

If he weren't so worried about causing a major accident, Harry might have already organized an all-out, campus-wide free-for-all event like "Freedom Day." Losing wouldn't be too big of a deal—students would just be assigned to help professors with chores like mixing dragon dung fertilizer, tilling herbology fields, washing potion vials, dissecting potion ingredients, or, at worst, scrubbing the hospital wing's chamber pots. On the other hand, winning could earn a year-long priority dating privilege at Hogwarts. As the school's unofficial benefactor, Harry wouldn't hesitate to sweeten the deal by throwing in a dozen or so flying brooms to stir up excitement.

Unfortunately, since Harry couldn't participate himself, he didn't bother organizing such an event. Otherwise, it might have eased the persistent tensions between the four houses. The grudges among students—who had no prior connections before enrolling—were the result of lingering prejudices and traditions. If the division between the four houses could somehow be abolished, Hogwarts might be free of such issues. But, of course, that was impossible.

For the past few months, Harry had been engrossed in advanced Transfiguration, raising his Thunderland Dragon, Thor, and crafting lightning-elemental modification armor. He hadn't used his wands in quite a while. It wasn't until the night before he was set to depart for Austria with Professor Flitwick that Harry picked up his ebony and ivory wands to reacquaint himself with their weight and balance. After all, he couldn't risk being out of practice and accidentally obliterating his opponent in the tournament.

The duel tournament wasn't a deathmatch; participants didn't sign any life-and-death waivers. Deliberately injuring someone would result in disqualification and a summons to the magical courts—not the Wizengamot of the English Ministry of Magic but the International Confederation of Wizards' tribunal, one of the highest courts in the magical world.

After neglecting his trusty wands for so long, Harry couldn't shake the faint sense that something was off when he held them again.

The feeling was as peculiar as needing to pass gas when your stomach hurt but being unsure if it was just gas or something worse.

"Could it be because of the silencer attachment I added from the Elder Wand brand?"

Frowning, Harry carefully tested the sensation. Slowly and cautiously, he channeled and released the peculiar energy bit by bit, trying to sense, imagine, or deduce whether it was harmless or potentially disastrous. When the sensation reached its peak, Harry finally let out a sigh of relief.

A smile spread across his face as he relaxed and released the final bit of control.

The intricate, mysterious patterns engraved on the ebony and ivory wands began to fade, retreating to their original designs. Under the influence of a newfound power, the wands underwent a remarkable transformation, almost impossible to perceive in real-time.

The ebony wand elongated several times over. Its black, matte surface appeared understated yet elegant, while the gaping barrel at its tip was larger and more ominous than anything Harry had ever seen. From the empty chamber came a hungry cry, as crystalline bullets formed within, filling the narrow voids with an almost sentient anticipation.

With a caliber of 23 millimeters and a magazine capacity of three rounds, it resembled the infamous Soviet Tula Arms Factory's KS-23 shotgun, the largest-caliber shotgun in the world. Nicknamed "The Broom," this weapon didn't just kill; it shredded. Being hit by it wasn't a question of life or death—it was a matter of survival or disintegration.

Gripping the protective eyewear tightly, Harry single-handedly chambered a round. With a crisp 'click,' the once crystal-clear, oversized shell now burned with a fiery crimson glow. Harry's figure blurred as he vanished from the now moonlit Hogwarts grounds, reappearing in an uninhabited wilderness. Without hesitation, he aimed at a rock wall a dozen meters away and pulled the trigger.

There was no deafening gunshot, yet the rock wall erupted into a blazing fireball!

The stone surface fractured violently, scattering countless fist-sized chunks of debris. When the dust finally settled, the once-imposing rock wall, protruding over ten meters above the ground, had been nearly split in half. The shotgun-shaped wand's spells, though their power was spread across multiple pellets, delivered devastating results. Any unlucky target that caught the entire blast would face destruction comparable to a high-powered sniper rifle.

This trade-off in single-shot power for scattershot utility meant the spell dissipated its energy more quickly. Fifty meters was the effective range; beyond that, the potency, accuracy, and control began to wane. Within this range, however, the wand's scattershot achieved optimal performance, particularly for large-scale, rapid-cast transfiguration spells.

Ordinarily, wizards didn't sacrifice spell potency for small-area crowd control. After all, there were plenty of wide-area spells available. Casting weaker spells that couldn't penetrate defensive magic was simply wasting an opportunity. Against magical creatures, large-scale spells could even backfire by strengthening their numbers.

However, with the Elder Wand's enhancements installed, the KS-23's individual pellet damage was comparable to the ebony wand's pistol form. Each advancement in wand design signified a significant leap in a wizard's combat capabilities.

"Does it require preloaded spells?"

Harry chambered another round with deliberate care. Such immense power came at a cost—slower firing speeds and less convenient casting methods.

"No matter," Harry mused. "Ebony only needs one shot to secure victory with a decisive, fatal strike."

Harry's gaze shifted to his right hand. Compared to the now oversized and ominous ebony wand, the ivory wand had reverted to its sleek and agile original form. Lightweight and portable, it now rivaled a standard handgun in utility. Yet it outclassed even the Glock 18. In its current Uzi-like configuration, the wand's firing rate had increased by an additional third, reaching a blistering 1,700 rounds per minute. This rate produced an unrelenting wall of magical projectiles, making evasion nearly impossible. With 28 spells fired every second, the wand created a near-impenetrable barrage.

On the confined dueling stage, such density of fire offered a considerable edge. Professor Flitwick's designs catered exclusively to dueling, each wand form optimized for competitive combat. And indeed, Harry's knack for this style of battle justified Flitwick's confidence. They even shared identical preferences in weaponry.

However, after test-firing the Uzi configuration, Harry noticed a stark difference from the Glock 18.

The Glock 18, equipped with its extended 100-round drum magazine, allowed continuous suppression with ample magical reserves. In contrast, the Uzi's 32-round standard magazine could be emptied in just over a second. This highlighted a significant drawback in sustained output and suppressive capabilities. But Harry soon identified a fundamental difference between the two configurations.

The 32-round magazine was just an accessory. The real innovation lay in the Uzi's ability to seamlessly switch between spells.

With the Glock 18, switching spells required releasing the trigger and recasting a new spell. The Uzi, however, eliminated this delay entirely. Changing spells mid-barrage allowed for uninterrupted spellcasting. If Harry's silent casting speed were quick enough, he could theoretically fire 28 unique spells per second.

Additionally, with predefined spell groups, the Uzi allowed flawless cycling through sequences of three spells, offering unprecedented versatility in combat. Like the Glock 18, the Uzi supported a three-spell group configuration limit.

"Still not enough magic reserves…" Harry muttered with a sigh. With a firing rate of 1,700 rounds per minute, even with his rapid magic recovery, Harry could barely sustain the barrage for 40 seconds.

"But honestly, who could even last 40 seconds against me?" he chuckled.

"Three seconds is already impressive!"

"I could take on ten at once!"

Satisfied after familiarizing himself with the new spell configurations, Harry returned to his dormitory. Completely at ease, he prepared to face the world's top young duelists.

"It's going to be interesting, isn't it?"

(End of Chapter)