Chapter 38: The Unexpected Duel

All the students were soon disappointed.

Lockhart was supposed to teach them how to duel, but he chose the wrong opponent, and Snape was definitely not a wizard who would follow all of his orders.

After Lockhart counted to three, Snape waved his wand, producing a dazzling red light. Lockhart was knocked and thrown off the stage, hitting the wall before sliding and falling to the ground.

Ivan took a cold breath and exhaled a heavy sigh.

Amidst the screams of the girls, Lockhart stood up and quickly regained his composure.

He jumped onto the stage with a wry smile after thinking about what to say.

Lockhart put on his iconic smile and said, "I think you all saw what happened, it was a Disarming Spell, and as you can see, I lost my wand."

"And it crashed!" someone in the crowd shouted.

But everyone underestimated Lockhart's mentality, as he treated the booing as a compliment.

Then Lockhart began to explain, "Yes, Professor Snape, it was an excellent idea to show the students what it's like to receive a disarming charm, but I don't mind telling you, I could have easily deflected it. If I had wanted to stop the spell, it wouldn't have taken much effort. I think students should broaden their horizons, let them...."

Seeing Snape's cold stare, Lockhart hastened to say, "The presentation is over. Now everyone will form into pairs, Professor Snape, you can help me..."

They walked through the crowd and paired up the students.

While Lockhart paired up Neville and Justin, and Snape walked over to Harry and Ron.

Snape said in a mocking tone, "The Dream Team should be broken, I think...! Weasley, you can be Mason's mate, as for you, Potter..."

Hearing his words made Harry subconsciously move closer to Hermione.

Snape, noticing Harry's actions, said with a cold smile on his face, "I don't think so, come here, Malfoy, let's see what the famous Harry Potter is made of. Miss Granger, you can pair up with Miss Millicent."

Malfoy approached with a cocky grin on his face.

He was followed by a tall, strong looking Slytherin girl. He lifted his chin in a menacing manner, Hermione smiled at him reluctantly, but the girl ignored her.

The next duel would be a disaster, Lockhart had finished the countdown.

Harry and Malfoy were hit by each other's spells, Snape soon came over to help them.

Neville and Justin were lying on the ground, panting. Hermione and Millicent were still in action, she grabbed Hermione's hair which made Hermione scream, their wands lay on the ground forgotten in their fight.

Harry rushed over and pushed Millicent away.

The worst duel was Ivan and Ron, Ivan let Ron use the Expelliarmus spell, the same spell as Snape, for even if the spell failed, the most he could do was send his wand flying, not as dramatic as Snape had sent Lockhart flying.

In the next second, something unexpected happened.

A dark blue light flew out of Ron's wand. It was a spell Ivan had never seen before, and the glow made it look evil. This was not the death curse, but Ivan sensed the danger of death from this spell.

Knowing that he could not receive the spell head-on, he shouted aloud "Protego," and darted to the side.

The Protego spell seemed to have worked, as the dark blue light could not be bounced by the spell, but it slowed down, landing where Ivan was previously.

It was as if the spell was made of acid, Ivan saw that the ground was corroding rapidly, which made all the young wizards gasp.

"My God, Ron, what did you use?" exclaimed Ivan in fright.

Ron looked as if he had just woken up and said, "I don't know! I just used it but I didn't know I would..."

Snape hurried over, his face grim as he looked at the marks on the floor, and after a few seconds, he looked at Ron with a strange expression.

"Weasley, did you go take a look at the books in the restricted section?" said Snape, you could tell by his tone that it was more of a question than an inquiry.

"NO, no!", Ron replied as he stammered and looked suspicious, Ron remembered the potions book they had taken.

Ivan said, "Ron, it must be your broken wand."

Seeing Ron's face, Ivan knew that if they asked Ron any more questions, he was going to reveal that they were making the Multijuice potion, so he was quick to change the subject, "Ron, I'm not going to fight you again until you change your wand."

Ron stammered and said, "But the spell..."

Snape shouted sternly, "Enough! If you're allowed to duel with that empty head of yours, you'll probably be buried tomorrow."

Lockhart seconded Snape's words and said, "That's right, Professor Snape. I think it's best to teach them how to stop hostile spells like that, how about we have someone come and show us, how about Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley?

Snape approached Lockhart and said, "Not the best idea, Professor Lockhart, Longbottom is like Weasley. We'd be sending Finch-Fletchley to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

This made Neville blush with embarrassment, then Snape said, "What about Malfoy and Potter?"

"That's wonderful!" said Lockhart, then gestured for Harry and Malfoy to come to the center of the stage, and the crowd retreated to make room for them.

Harry and Malfoy were standing on opposite sides of the stage, Lockhart and Snape imparting some combat knowledge to their respective students. Lockhart didn't know what to say to Harry, he waved his wand and dropped it to the ground.

The next thing was as Ivan remembered.

The long black snake came out of Malfoy's wand and landed on the stage with a loud thud, then lifted its head and prepared to strike.

The crowd screamed and quickly backed away.

Snape had tried to scare Harry a little, but Lockhart had made it worse. He cast a spell that caused the snake to rise into the air, causing it to land in the crowd.

The snake, furious, headed straight for the nearest person who was Justin, raised its head while exposing its fangs and struck an offensive pose.

Everyone heard Harry speak to the snake in a hissing voice, which caused everyone to hold their breath and freeze, causing the auditorium to fall into a deadly silence.

The snake stopped and Harry looked at Justin as he smiled.

After seeing his look, everyone took a step back. Justin's face was filled with rage and horror.

"What are you playing at?" cried Justin in horror, tears falling from his eyes, and then he turned and ran out of the Great Hall.

Looking at Harry, who was standing in the center of the stage with a confused look on his face, Ivan hurried with Ron and pulled the confused Harry off the stage.