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The Unofficial Harry Potter Bracket Part 4

By Curt David and Emily Gibson

April 27, 2020

Severus Snape

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They call it March Madness for a reason. This week in the Unofficial Harry Potter bracket, we get the third tournament upset and one of the three main characters almost gets knocked off.

To see the 32 seeded wizards and witches, and more info about the tournament, click here.

To learn how the first 8 duels went down, click here.

Note: All of these Harry Potter columns might contain spoilers from the series.

The next four duels of the Harry Potter bracket have happened and I am going to share with you the results here. If you would like to vote for the remaining duels, feel free to follow along on Twitter - @himmelberger_c and Instagram @curt_himmelberger.

Also, the amazing and wonderful Emily Gibson (FB: emily.gibson.12) has created the dueling stories you’ll see below.

Without further ado, here are the results:

MATCH 9: Who would win in a duel between Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody (3) vs. Fred Weasley (6)?

Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody received 89% of the votes vs. 11% for Fred Weasley, so Moody moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Alastor Moody and Fred Weasley.”

Both make their way to the stage. Mad-eye is limping, his gnarled hand holding onto his cane and his eye patch is going crazy. Fred Weasley skips up to his side, with a sly smile across his face and says, “Remember to take it easy on me old timer!”

Officials, “The combatants will face each other, bow, and then attempt to disarm, injure, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner is decided. On the count of three... One. Two. Three.”

Weasley tosses something on the ground and the whole place went black. No one can see anything!

Official, “It must be Peruvian instant darkness power.”

When everyone can see again, Mad-Eye has Mr. Weasley upside down, up in the air and his wand is on the ground by Mad-Eye's feet.

Mad-Eye says, “Constant vigilance.”

Official: “Mad-eye wins!”

Moody hobbles off the stage holding his gnarled hand above his cane.

Fred Weasley is still hanging upside down.


Match Analysis:
Out of the voters who commented, the number one reason behind voting for Moody is his experience (long-time wizard, decades of experience, part of the Order, in charge of Harry’s relocation while Fred was just a decoy).
The most popular reason to vote for Fred is that Fred would have some tricks up his sleeve, especially if he had time to prepare. Interestingly, almost 10% of the comments involved these two characters doing something illegally unexpected, like they both turn on the tournament creator (hey, that’s me!) or one wins, but they both had taken Polyjuice potion, so technically the other person wins.

Moody moves on to the Sweet 16 where he will play Luna Lovegood next.

My conclusion: People have internalized the Harry Potter universe so well, that they will vote logically in these matches as opposed to just voting for their favorite characters (which is not my strategy during March Madness). This conclusion was somewhat evident in this match, although Moody is a likable character. But this conclusion becomes stronger in the next two matches. Let’s read on...

MATCH 10: Who would win in a duel between Kingsley Shacklebolt (4) vs. Cedric Diggory (5)?

Kingsley Shacklebolt received 83% of the votes vs. 17% for Cedric Diggory, so Shacklebolt moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official, “Kingsley Shacklebolt and Cedric Diggory.”

Shacklebolt is calm and confident as he walks up. Diggory walks casually by his side with a sureness in his ability.

Official: “The combatants face each other, bow, and then attempt to disarm, injure, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner is decided. On the count of three... One. Two. Three.”

Shacklebolt, “Stupefy.”

Cedric, “Protego.”

Shacklebolt. “Expelliarmus. Stupefy.”

Cedric's wand flies from his hand and he lies on the ground not moving.

Official: “Shackelbolt wins.”

Shacklebolt points his wand at Cedric’s chest, “Rennervate.”


Match analysis:

Out of the voters who commented, the unanimous reason behind voting for Shacklebolt was his experience (top auror, experience with spells and dueling, the Minister’s bodyguard when he came to arrest Dumbledore, etc.). The only other reasons to get multiple comments were his style (yes, his stylish clothes) and several people lamenting that we were never able to find out about Cedric’s full-potential in a duel. The main reason people voted for Cedric Diggory was that he was a vampire or they were voting for Edward.

Kingsley Shacklebolt moves on to the Sweet 16 where he will duel #1 seed Bellatrix Lestrange.

My conclusion: Like I mentioned in the last duel, people voted with their Harry Potter knowledge. I was sure that Cedric would have been more competitive for all the Robert Pattison fans that found him dreamy. The next duel is going to cement this conclusion. And what do I make of the minority of folks who voted for Edward the vampire? Well I’m glad that people still have a sense of humor and can make each other laugh during these self-quarantine times, which is what we need (and the reason why this bracket was started). Plus, it’s in the spirit of March Madness, where the person who votes based on team mascots ends up picking the correct winners. I predict that even with Shacklebolt’s strong performance today, he will lose to Lestrange next round. Enough chit chat, let’s move on to the most exciting match in the tournament.




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MATCH 11: Who would win in a duel between Ron Weasley (3) vs. Filius Flitwick (6)?

Ron Weasley received 54% of the votes vs. 46% for Filius Flitwick, so Ron Weasley moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Well Emily explains how 46% of the people wanted the duel to go down, since she writes these stories before the winners are announced:

Official: “Ron Weasley and Filius Flitwick.”

Ron walks up to the stage excited and nervous.

Official: “The combatants face each other, bow, and then attempt to disarm, injure, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner is decided. On the count of three... One. Two. Three.”

Ron, “Expelliarmusse.” ... nothing happens…”expelliarmuss”... nothing happens.

Flitwick in a high voice. “Mr Weasley, your pronunciation is off. It’s Expelliarmus.”

Ron's wand flies out of his hand.

Official, “Filius Flitwick wins!” *

Flitwick, “Mr Weasley you look in a real state. How about you come back to my office, and I will get out a tin of cupcakes. You can have some and we can make the rest of them jive!”


Match analysis:

***Although he doesn’t; Ron Weasley is the winner. Most people who voted for Ron did not provide an explanation. The number one reason given for Ron’s victory is that he would accidentally win the match (Fall upwards, rise to the occasion, etc.). For the people voting for Flitwick, the top reason was his experience (charms professor, Battle of Hogwarts, decades of experience, etc.). The second most popular reason to vote for Flitwick was Ron’s ineptitude, especially with using a wand.

In the closest match so far in tournament history, Ron Weasley moves on to the Sweet 16 where he will duel Dolores Umbridge.

My conclusion: I am dumbfounded. Ron is one of the three main characters in Harry Potter, and I bet most people would not know who Filius Flitwick was. Yet, Flitwick almost won this duel; only a few last minute votes turned the tide to Ron’s favor. But it makes sense that an experienced professor would be able to beat a high-school student in a duel. If this logic prevails, the youngsters in this tournament are going to have an uphill battle to climb. I also predict Ron loses in the next round.

MATCH 12: Who would win in a duel between Severus Snape (2) vs. Cho Chang (7)?

Severus Snape received 97% of the votes vs 3% for Cho Chang, so Snape moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Severus Snape and Cho Chang.”

Snape walks up with an air of superiority. Chang has her head down and looks nervous.

Official: “The combatants face each other, bow, and then attempt to disarm, injure, or kill each other in order to force submission, and thus a winner is decided. On the count of three… One. Two. Three.”

Without a word, thin snakelike cords burst forth from the ends of Snape’s wand and twist themselves around near Chang’s feet. She screams and tries to run away. The snakes follow and keep getting bigger. Chang yells that she forfeits and the snakes disappear as she runs away.

Snape walks off the stage.

Official: “Snape wins.”

No one is on the stage.


Match analysis:

The number one reason voters picked Snape is, well, not really a reason. The most common response was along the lines of “Snape 100%,” “Snape, period,” “Is this even a thing?,” “For sure,” and quite a few “Obviously.” Some responses also pointed out Snape’s experience, including fooling the most powerful dark wizard of all time and how he invented spells.

Snape moves onto the Sweet 16 where he will duel Ginny Weasley.

My conclusion: Snape is going to go far in this tournament. In most of the other matches in the Round of 32, people often mentioned the positive characteristics of both wizards in the duel and then reluctantly picked one. Not this match. People did not even have to talk about Snape’s accomplishments or skill. His name alone is the reason why he beat Chang. I always thought Snape would make it into the Elite 8, but he might have potential to go all the way.

Stay tuned for the results of the other matches of The Unofficial Harry Potter tournament.


     


 
 

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