Hogwarts: From Squibs to Greatness

Chapter 96 Duel
At eight o'clock that night, in the auditorium.

The long dining table disappeared, and along one wall appeared a gilded stage, lit by hundreds of candles floating overhead.

The ceiling was once again as black as velvet, and almost all the students from the school came, crowded together, each holding his own wand, and his face was full of excitement.

Everyone was eagerly discussing news of the Dueling Club, letting their imaginations run wild.

Naturally, Harry and the others were also included, and they were also discussing excitedly.

"I don't know who will teach us!" Hermione said with a flushed face from excitement, "Someone told me that Flitwick was a duel champion when he was young, maybe he will teach us."

Ron looked at the gilded stage and said excitedly, "Maybe it's Professor McGonagall. Both Bill and Charlie said that Professor McGonagall's dueling level is comparable to that of Professor Flitwick."

"As long as it's not..." Harry said excitedly.

It's a pity that he hasn't finished speaking, and everything he wanted to say was converted into a mournful cry.

Gilderoy Lockhart, who he least wanted to see, walked onto the stage radiantly in a fuchsia robe.

And beside him was the nightmare that Harry didn't want to face - Snape.

He still had the gloomy expression on his face, and instead of dressing Lockhart specially, Snape was still wearing his usual black clothes.

Under Snape's gloomy gaze, Lockhart stepped forward and waved to the chattering little wizards below for everyone to be quiet.

With that iconic smile on his face, he said loudly in a melodic tone: "Come around, come around! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear my voice? Ah !Very good!"

"Well, Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to start this little dueling club, to train everyone well in case you need to defend yourself one day, to protect yourself in the way I have used countless times—for more details on this, Please see my published work."

Lockhart once again went out of his way to advertise his work, as he always did in class.

After saying this, Lockhart raised his hand to signal everyone to look at Professor Snape standing beside him.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape." Lockhart said, grinning widely. "He told me that he knew a thing or two about duels himself, and he graciously agreed , to help me with a small demonstration before the class. I said, I don’t want to worry you little guys. After I finish the demonstration with him, I will return your Potions teacher to you intact, do not be afraid!"

"At the same time, he also brought an assistant. Before I demonstrate the duel with Snape, he will conduct a small demonstration with me."

"Everyone welcomes with applause!"

Lockhart led the little wizard to applaud, with a smile on his face, but unfortunately, the next second, Lockhart couldn't maintain his smile.

Because under the surprised eyes of everyone, John walked out from behind the crowd, stepped onto the dueling platform, and stood beside Professor Snape.

Lockhart looked at John's dragon eyes, and at this moment he was screaming madly in his heart, wanting to just escape from the auditorium and leave this damn dueling club alone.

But thinking that doing so would destroy the reputation he had accumulated over the years, he suppressed the thought of running away.

Although he still spoke in that melodic tone, he could no longer hear the passion and excitement from before.

"I didn't expect that the assistant turned out to be Mr. John Williams. This is very good...very good. Come on, Mr. Williams. It's perfect for the best of you to demonstrate!"

Lockhart suppressed the panic in his heart, pretending to be kind and pulled John to his side.

Then I saw him show his iconic smile again, and said loudly to the people below: "Everyone, don't worry about your classmates! We are just giving a demonstration at random. After that, Mr. Williams will come back safe and sound. to your side."

But it's a pity that no one has a worried expression on their face, but an expression of expectation.

With a smile on his face, George said to the people around him: "I'm looking forward to the scene where John beats Lockhart to the bum."

Fred also had the same smile, and continued: "That's right, who doesn't know that Professor Flitwick said more than once that John's dueling level has surpassed him."

The smiles on Harry and Ron's faces at this moment are similar to those of the Weasley twins, or most boys have this kind of smile on their faces, full of gloating.

Hermione, like those witches who knew John's level, looked at Lockhart worriedly.

The voices of the Weasley twins were not too low, and Lockhart, who was standing on the stage, naturally heard what they were saying.

But now that the arrow is on the string and has to be fired, doesn't he know what the dueling level of the kid next to him is like?
Lockhart tried his best to maintain a smile, and said loudly: "It seems that everyone has great confidence in Mr. Williams. He really deserves to be the best!"

"I guess I don't need to tell you about dueling etiquette, do I?" Lockhart said to John.

John nodded without saying anything.

Seeing this, Lockhart smiled and patted John on the shoulder vigorously, as if to cheer him up.

But John, one of the parties involved, knew why Lockhart did this.

With the help of patting the shoulder to shorten the distance, Lockhart said in a volume that only the two of them could hear: "Mr. Williams, this is just a small demonstration, let's go as far as we can."

John glanced at Lockhart's right hand on his shoulder, and nodded after a moment of silence.

Lockhart breathed a sigh of relief, he thought John agreed to his suggestion, he showed a relaxed smile, and then strode towards the other side of the dueling ring.

But it's a pity that he was wrong. John didn't want to keep his hand from the beginning.

Nodding and agreeing, it was just to deceive the poor guy in front of him, lest he be scared away.

Regarding this point, Professor Snape, who was standing under the stage with his arms folded on his chest, understood very well. At this moment, he had a piercing smile on his face, watching the stupid Lockhart step by step into the abyss.

John and Lockhart stood at opposite ends of the dueling ring, facing each other.

"As you can see, it starts with bowing."

Lockhart and John bowed to each other, but their bows were somewhat different. Lockhart moved his hands in many tricks while bowing, while John only bent his body slightly and nodded his head as a bow.

Then they held their wands like swords to their chests, but now Lockhart was holding the custom fixed magic generator.

"As you can see, we hold our wands in the normal dueling position," Lockhart said to the quiet crowd. "On the count of three, we cast the first spell. Of course, neither of us will take the other's hand." life."

Professor Snape, who was standing in the audience, looked at Lockhart who still didn't know anything with pity.

Harry, who was standing in the crowd, understood Snape's eyes, and suddenly he seemed to realize something, and looked expectantly at John who was standing on the stage.

"one two Three!"

The two raised their wands over their shoulders at the same time, but at this moment, Lockhart saw John hook his lips, and Lockhart suddenly felt bad, but it was too late to interrupt the duel.

"Except you..."

Before Lockhart finished speaking, he heard John's indifferent voice
"Shen Feng has no shadow!"

They only heard the whistling sound, but before everyone could react, they heard Lockhart's sharp scream, and when everyone saw what was going on, many little wizards also started to scream.

"Oh my god! Killed him! Save him!"

A long wound appeared horizontally on Lockhart's waist and abdomen. The purple-red robe was cut off, and the flesh and blood gushed out continuously.

In fact, although the wound looks terrible, it doesn't actually hurt the inside, and it can be healed easily with the counter-curse.

If Lockhart was really almost cut in half, John felt that Dumbledore would definitely talk to him by then, and began to monitor him out of fear.

Professor Snape knew this very well, but Lockhart and the students in the audience didn't know it.

The timid little wizard turned pale and didn't even dare to watch the scene on the stage.

Lockhart was lying on the ground screaming, not at all afraid of harm as written in his book.

"Help! I'm bleeding! Somebody! Doctor! Help! I don't want to die! I need a doctor! Ahhh!!!"

Lockhart's tears and snot were streaming down his face at the same time, and he was not as clean and elegant as before. He dared not move at this moment, for fear that he would find the reality that his body was separated.

But no one dared to step forward to check on Lockhart's status, and no one started to call Madam Pomfrey, because Snape was watching them at the moment.

John didn't care about Lockhart's state, but concentrated on sensing the other party's state, using instruments to collect changes in the legendary value of the other party.

Sure enough, just as John thought, the legendary value on the other party began to drop sharply.

In the end, John felt that the data collection was almost done, so he slowly stepped forward and knelt down next to Lockhart, and first stunned him with a stun spell, interrupting his ugly roar.

Pointing his wand at the wound in his stomach, John began to chant the counter-curse.

"Heal fast...heal fast...heal fast..."

The wand was pointed all the way along the wound, the blood flowed back, and the wound rolled back to its original shape. When John's wand was pointed all the way along the wound on Lockhart's body, Lockhart had fully recovered.

Without the counter-curse to heal, Lockhart's wounds would bleed forever, and he would die from blood loss.

"John Williams!"

Seeing that John had cured Lockhart, Professor Snape played with a gloomy face at this time,
"If the professor is seriously injured in a duel, fifty points will be deducted!"

But Harry standing under the stage didn't know if it was an illusion, he seemed to see the corner of Snape's mouth twitch slightly.

And the penalty of fifty points was deducted. Everyone knew that it was nothing to John. With the ability of the opponent, his points could be recovered within a few days.

At the same time, Harry felt that if the other professors knew that John was deducted for hurting Lockhart, every professor would be willing to give John extra points to make up for the missing points.

After John stepped down, Professor Snape cast a spell to wake up the unconscious Lockhart.

But because of the wound just now, not only was the robe on his abdomen cut open to reveal his body, but the blood stained on the clothes stuck to his body, which also made Lockhart feel embarrassed.

Finally, after Lockhart said a few words, he went to change his clothes, and Snape temporarily managed the duel.

(End of this chapter)