"Duels and Disasters."
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Inside the Great Hall of Hogwarts, the enchanted ceiling sparkled with stars. Beneath the starry sky, the students were throwing themselves into a series of duels. To Augustus, the whole thing might've seemed childish and silly, but that didn't stop the kids from giving it their all. He watched them, full of passion and energy, and for some reason, found himself slightly lost in thought.
Lilian was facing off against Pansy. Since they were in the same class, Lilian decided to go easy on her. The two went back and forth for a few rounds, trading spells.
Then, a huge fireball appeared in the air and came flying at Pansy, who stared at it wide-eyed. Even though she had multiple protective charms on—including armor spells—the fireball still managed to catch her skirt on fire.
Snape happened to be walking by and quickly extinguished the flames, shooting Lilian a confused look. Lilian tried to play it cool and calmly walked back to the crowd of students who had already finished dueling.
Loki's opponent was a first-year student he didn't even recognize. Not bothering with his usual ice spells, Loki simply disarmed the kid with an Expelliarmus, followed by a clean Petrificus Totalus. The whole thing was smooth and effortless—two spells cast in perfect flow. The poor first-year didn't even have time to react before he was eliminated from the arena.
Malfoy stood confidently with his wand in hand, staring down his old rival. Thanks to training from Augustus and frequent duels with Loki, he was no longer the inexperienced kid he once was. Now, when facing an opponent, he could naturally stay calm and focused. That was Duel Rule Number One: stay cool under pressure. If you couldn't keep your head straight, how could you possibly fight at your full potential and win?
Harry, clearly eager to win, didn't wait for Malfoy to make a move. He raised his wand, pointed it directly at him, and shouted, "Rictusempra!"
Malfoy dodged it with ease, using Wind's Grace to enhance his speed. The silver spell beam barely missed him. Harry thought he'd almost landed a hit and clicked his tongue in frustration. What he didn't know was that Malfoy had dodged it deliberately—using just enough effort to make it look like a close call.
Harry raised his wand again and fired a Confringo spell. Malfoy dodged that too, still calm and unbothered. With Wind's Grace active, most spells couldn't even come close to hitting him.
"That's all you've got, Scarhead? Guess it's my turn now," Malfoy sneered. He pointed his wand at Harry. A light blue wind began swirling around him as he chanted quietly, then waved his wand.
A towering column of wind shot up inside the Great Hall, looking like it reached all the way into the sky. The whirlwind sucked in everything around it—desks, banners, even chairs—as it spiraled upward. Then, under Malfoy's command, the entire wind column came crashing toward Harry.
The other students froze, staring in awe at the sudden tornado in the middle of the hall. Duels were abandoned as everyone turned to watch. The enormous blue whirlwind moved so fast that Harry barely had time to react. He looked up, panic on his face, and shouted that he forfeited. But Malfoy either didn't hear him—or pretended not to—and kept aiming the wind right at him, clearly enjoying himself.
"Interesting," Loki muttered to himself, arms crossed, an amused glint in his amber eyes. "He's actually able to cast that spell now? Huh, haven't seen him for a few days and already he's a whole different person. That wind spell… If he doesn't control it properly, it could backfire on him too. Gotta admit, the kid's got talent."
Lilian looked just as surprised. She touched her forehead and raised one eyebrow in an odd expression.
Augustus gave a casual flick of his silver wand. In an instant, the wind column shrank and disappeared like it was sucked into thin air, turning into a gentle breeze before vanishing completely. "He already surrendered. No need to push it further," Augustus said coolly.
"Yes, Mr. Augustus." Malfoy gave a slight bow, then turned to Harry. "Lucky you. Augustus saved your skin today. Next time, don't give up so fast—I wasn't even having fun yet."
Harry's eyes were burning with humiliation. He clenched his teeth and silently backed away.
Snape, watching the whole thing, looked surprised. He glanced at Malfoy, then at Lilian, and finally gave Augustus a long, thoughtful look. "Alright, that's enough for now," he suddenly called out. His voice echoed across the Great Hall.
A green mist was now drifting across the room. Neville and Justin were both lying on the floor, gasping for breath. Ron was clutching a ghostly pale Seamus, apologizing over and over for whatever disaster Seamus's busted wand had caused.
Meanwhile, Hermione and Millicent were still scuffling—Millicent had Hermione's head in a chokehold while Hermione let out small cries of pain. Their wands had both been dropped somewhere on the floor. Harry rushed over to pull Millicent off her—no easy task, considering Millicent was way bigger than him.
"Oh my, oh dear!" Lockhart exclaimed, dashing around the room as he inspected the aftermath. "Up you go, Ernie… careful now, Miss Fawcett… press hard on that, the bleeding will stop soon, Boot…"
"I think it's time I taught you all how to stop unfriendly spells," Lockhart declared from the center of the hall, looking frazzled. He glanced at Snape, who was glaring at him with icy black eyes. Lockhart quickly looked away.
"Right then, who's next? Longbottom and Finnigan—how about you two?"
"Not a good idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape said, gliding across the stage like a giant bat. "Even with the simplest spells, Longbottom is a walking disaster. We'd be sending what's left of Finnigan to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face turned beet red.
"How about Malfoy and Potter?" Snape suggested with a wicked grin.
"Excellent idea!" Lockhart beamed, motioning for Harry and Malfoy to return to the center of the hall. The other students quickly cleared a space around them. "Alright, Harry," Lockhart said, "when Draco points his wand at you, here's what you need to do…"
Fresh off a humiliating defeat, Harry was desperate for redemption. He nervously looked up at Lockhart. "Professor, could you demonstrate that spell-blocking technique one more time?"
Lockhart waved his wand around in some dramatic, overly complicated motions—only to fumble and drop it. Snape snorted loudly from the side. Flustered, Lockhart bent down to pick it up. "Ah—my wand's just a bit too excited, that's all," he said with an awkward laugh.
Augustus watched Harry and Lockhart with a sigh. Today just wasn't Harry's day. First, he was forced to forfeit thanks to a spell Augustus himself had taught Malfoy. Now he was stuck between Lockhart and Snape, caught in the crossfire of their rivalry. And to top it off, that so-called spell-blocking technique Lockhart was going on about? Total nonsense.
Honestly, it was starting to look like Lockhart might just be Harry's unlucky charm.
"....."