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The Unofficial Harry Potter Bracket Part 4

By Curt David and Emily Gibson

April 29, 2020

Harry Potter tournament

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Today’s the day. We started with 32 witches and wizards, and now we are down to the Sweet 16 (full list at the bottom of the article).

To learn how the first 12 duels went down, click here.

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

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 13: Who would win in a duel between Remus Lupin (4) vs. Peter Pettigrew “Wormtail” (5)?

Remus Lupin received 97% of the votes vs. 3% for Peter Pettigrew, so Lupin moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Up next Remus Lupin vs. Peter Pettigrew.”

Lupin casually walks to his side of the stage, keeping his eye on his opponent.

Pettigrew scurries to his side.

Lupin, “I have been waiting for this for a long time.”

Pettigrew. “I was always your friend, even though you all always left me out!”

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…”

They both take up a stance.

Official: “One. Two. Three.”

Lupin’s wand lights up. Pettigrew disappears into a rat. Lupin yells for Peter to get back here and face him, while sending sparks all over the stage. The rat runs and heads under the stage. Hours pass and no one can find Pettigrew.

Official: “Lupin wins!”


Match Analysis:

Far above and beyond any other reason, the main comment on why Lupin would win was because he is a werewolf and Pettigrew is a rat. The second most popular reason to vote for Lupin is that Pettigrew is a coward (and only has skills of finding friends more powerful than himself). A very small number of people mentioned more details about the characters, like Lupin being in the Order, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and McGonagall once mentioning that Pettigrew was not as bright as the other boys in school.

Lupin moves on to the Sweet 16 where he will play Hermione Granger.

My conclusion: Uh-oh. The majority of voters chose this battle based on the most obvious characteristics of Lupin and Pettigrew (only one voter pointed out that Lupin can’t decide when to change into a werewolf, and if he did during a match, his actions would not be his own). Why does this make me nervous? Because of my favorite, Luna Lovegood. I think she could deservedly win the whole competition, but if people just say she is strange as her only characteristic, then she might not go that far. Lupin, on the other hand, could go far, but he will have to duel Hermione Granger next round.

MATCH 14: Who would win in a duel between Draco Malfoy (3) vs. George Weasley (6)?

George Weasley received 58% of the votes vs. 42% for Draco Malfoy, so Weasley moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Up next, Draco Malfoy and George Weasley.”

Draco snarls as he makes his way to the stage. George fiddles with his robe, as he makes his way down front.

Draco smirks. “What's the matter Weasley? Is your robe too small? Can't afford a new one?”

George ignores him and smiles to himself.

Officials: “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.”

George tosses a smoke bomb into the air and the room fills with different colors of smoke. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet... as the smoke clears and George walks over and punches Draco in the nose and in the gut. Draco lays on the ground whimpering.

Official: “George wins!”


Match analysis:

Out of the voters who commented, the top reason to vote for Weasley was his experience (more years than Draco. Also, George is smart and a better wizard). The main reason to vote for Draco was his personality (crafty, dirty, ruthless, spineless, and evil, to name a few). Some people also noted Draco’s abilities (knows a lot of spells, top of Slytherin class) and pointed out that George might lose because he wouldn’t take the match seriously enough.

This was the biggest upset in the tournament so far! George Weasley moves on to the Sweet 16 where he will duel Nymphadora Tonks or Vincent Crabbe, which is the next match.

My conclusion: Fred Weasley lost handily to Mad-Eye Moody, while George actually won against Draco Malfoy. This would lead me to believe that Mad-Eye now has an even stronger chance to go far in this competition (which hurts me even more, because he duels Luna Lovegood next).




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MATCH 15: Who would win in a duel between Nymphadora Tonks (2) vs. Vincent Crabbe (7)?

Nymphadora Tonks received 80% of the votes vs. 20% for Vincent Crabbe, so Tonks moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Up next is Vincent Crabbe and Nymphadora Tonks.”

Crabbe stalks to the stage eating a donut and licking his fingers.

Tonks trips while walking up the steps to the stage. Her blue hair turns a bright red. Crabbe laughs.

Officials: “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.”

Crabbe is still laughing and tries to cast the first spell.

But Tonks' wand goes red. “Expelliarmus.” Crabbe's wand flies across the stage. Tonks' hair changes to a bright pink.

Official: Tonks wins!


Match analysis:

There was a tie between the top two reasons to vote for Tonks. Just as many people mentioned her experience (graduate, in the Order, real world experience) as mentioned Crabbe’s stupidity (falls for floating cupcakes, would get lost on his way to the duel, etc.). Some people mentioned Tonks being a metamorphagus and some mentioned Crabbe being a school bully.

Tonks moves on to the Sweet 16 where she will duel George Weasley.

My conclusion: Tonks is going to beat George next round.

MATCH 16: Who would win in a duel between Molly Weasley (1) vs. Sybil Trelawney (8)?

Molly Weasley received 97% of the votes vs 3% for Sybil Trelawney, so Mrs. Weasley moves on to the Sweet 16.

How did the duel go down? Emily explains:

Official: “Up next is Molly Weasley and Sybill Trelawney.”

Mrs Weasley smooths out her dress as she makes her way to the front of the stage. Trelawney stumbles and fixes her thick glasses to her face. She looks at Mrs. Weasley, "I read the tea this morning and this is not a good day for a match. I saw a dark dog in your corner and it means a certain death. We should postpone this match. The stars and tea are never wrong. Someone will certainly die."

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.”

Trelawney trips as Mrs. Weasley yells, “Impedimenta.” And Trelawney's fall turns into an unmistakable slow motion fall.

Trelawney yelled. “'I will forfeit so no one dies!”

Official: “Mrs. Weasley wins!”


Match analysis:

The number one reason voters picked Molly Weasley was the fact that she defeated Voldemort’s number two, Bellatrix Lestrange. Multiple voters only typed the phrase “not my daughter, you bitch” as their entire response. The second reason, which is intertwined with the first, is her being a capable mother (“determined mom,” “motherly rage,” etc.). The reason that got the third highest number of comments was the fact that there is no evidence that Trelawney has any experience dueling, and the two times she used her magical skill of clairvoyance, she was pretty much incapacitated, so that would not help her in this duel.

Top seed Molly Weasley easily moves into the Sweet 16 where she will duel Fleur Delacour.

My conclusion: This was mentioned in a previous column, but once again I admire how JK Rowling wrote strong, female characters. The four #1 seeds in the tournament were Molly Weasley, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, and Bellatrix Lestrange, and all four of them soared with flying colors to the round of 16.
The Round of 32 is over! Will these four characters all make it to the Final Four? While I hope so, this is a March Madness bracket after all, and there are always surprises along the way. Three of the duels in the Round of 32 were upsets. George Weasley defeating Draco Malfoy was the biggest upset, followed by Lucius Malfoy defeating Arthur Weasley and Fleur Delacour defeating Neville Longbottom.. Stay tuned to read how the Sweet 16 duels go down. Here are the wizards and witches left in the tournament by regions:

SWEET 16

EAST

1 Minerva McGonagall
5 Lucius Malfoy

3 Ron Weasley
2 Dolores Umbridge

WEST

1 Bellatrix Lestrange
4 Kingsley Shacklebolt

3 Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody
2 Luna Lovegood

SOUTH

1 Molly Weasley
5 Fleur Delacour

6 George Weasley
2 Nymphadora Tonks

NORTH
1 Hermione Granger
4 Remus Lupin

3 Ginny Weasley
2 Severus Snape


     


 
 

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