Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

A light drizzle was still falling from the sky, but no one cared.

Fred and George mingled in the crowd and began inviting others to place bets.

“Eric’s odds are very low; we only gave him odds of less than 1.5. On the contrary, if I were you, I would bet on Cedric, bet on one Sike, and you have a chance to win back twelve or even more.”

Fred and George each put their arms around a young Gryffindor student, persuading him to bet on Cedric, leaving the student bewildered.

“I just remembered, I’m also a prefect, and I have the right to correct the bad habits in the castle.” Cedric appeared behind the two of them, squinting.

The twins gave an awkward laugh, quickly put away their betting odds, and changed the subject, saying, "Good luck, we believe in you, Ced."

Cedric snorted and walked away. Believe in him? No way, why offer him such high odds?

He himself doesn't have a high opinion of himself.

Upon arriving at the stadium, Professor Flitwick and Cho Chang were already waiting in the center of the field.

Professor Flitwick's expression was even more excited than that of the duelists.

He was very fond of dueling when he was young, and he also liked talented students.

Eric was the Ravenclaw he valued, while Cedric was the foremost figure in Hufflepuff.

This duel is sure to be a spectacle.

According to school rules, students are prohibited from fighting in private or harming their classmates.

But things have been turbulent lately: Black has fled, Dementors have invaded, and the Duel Club is about to reopen.

As the host of the Duel Club, Professor Flitwick has the authority to arrange several practice matches.

With Flitwick around, it's unlikely that anything unexpected will happen in the duel.

Students are prohibited from privately arranging matches, but if a professor is present, the situation changes.

This is also why Eric wanted to bring Flitwick over.

This world is so wonderful.

Whether the rules allow it or not sometimes depends on a single thought.

Professor Flitwick called Eric and Cedric forward, saying, "Let me make it clear beforehand that this is not a formal duel, but a rehearsal for a duel club performance. You two are invited by me, and it will be a one-on-one duel without assistants. There are restrictions on your duel: you are not allowed to use curses or evil spells that could cripple your opponent, nor is black magic allowed. You must obey my orders and stop immediately once a winner is determined. Now, if you are ready, please step back."

Eric and Cedric had no objections and stepped back a certain distance, with the crowd surrounding them in two rows.

Professor Flitwick took out his wand and fired a red spark into the sky, announcing the start of the duel!

Chapter 90 Fireball

Cedric's aptitude is among the best of the Hogwarts students.

At the very least, he was one of the most outstanding students Eric had ever seen in the castle.

After Professor Flitwick announced the start of the duel, Cedric did not hesitate and suddenly rushed towards Eric.

As he ran, he took out his wand and pointed it at the ground, chanting incantations. A wall of earth suddenly rose up in front of him, blocking his view of Eric.

Eric remained unmoved, calmly holding his wand, neither rushing to make a move nor interfering with Cedric's tactics.

After a few seconds of silence behind the earthen wall, a black figure emerged from Eric's right side, but Eric still did not make a move.

The onlookers gasped in surprise, thinking Eric had gone mad and was completely unresponsive to Cedric's sudden appearance, only to later realize that they were the ones who had gone mad.

It was just Cedric's school uniform robe, with the inside barely filled with mud to form a human shape.

The real Cedric, wearing a shirt, emerged from the other side of the earthen wall and cast a pale red spell at Eric from a very concealed angle: "Expelliarmus!"

Eric praised, "A good combo."

It was clear from their first exchange that Cedric was no mere figurehead and definitely possessed the ability to challenge Eric.

He started with Transfiguration, interspersed with ordinary illusions and disarming spells.

If Eric had attacked the school uniform robe that Eric had thrown out, he might not have had time to deal with the subsequent disarming spell.

This trick is almost always effective against other students.

Most people would be instantly killed by Cedric in one move.

With this preparation alone, Cedric has already proven that he is better than most seventh-graders and has a wealth of practical experience.

He truly is a genius of Hufflepuff.

Unfortunately, he was facing Eric.

Eric didn't even utter the incantation. He simply waved his wand, and Cedric's disarming spell suddenly stopped in mid-air, then changed direction and rushed towards Cedric himself.

Cedric was shocked. The Reversal Charm could be used like that?

Eric didn't explain, and Cedric didn't realize that Eric had cast several disarming spells on him in a short period of time.

First came the spell to stop the bleeding, then the shock-absorbing spell and the flipping spell.

It also requires the guidance of magic to make the spell counter the spell.

The technique Eric used was far beyond Cedric's comprehension.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly, rolling away to dodge Eric's rebound disarming spell.

While dodging, Cedric didn't forget to continue putting pressure on Eric.

"Upside-down bell! Repel them immediately!"

His wand vibrated rapidly, casting two spells at Eric, one in front and one behind.

The sound of the spell cutting through the air was quite sharp. After Eric easily broke Cedric's combo that he had been sure to win in his previous sparring matches, he dared not take any chances and planned to go all out.

"Armor protection."

An invisible, transparent wall appeared around Eric. Cedric's spells struck the wall one after another, but Eric felt nothing as the spells simply vanished.

Cedric's real purpose was not to expect the two spells to directly strike Eric, but to buy time.

He took a few steps back, muttering incantations, clearly casting a powerful spell.

Finally, when he retreated to the earthen wall he had just summoned, he pointed his wand at Eric and shouted, "Fire!"

A massive fireball, roughly the size of three Quidditch goals put together, shot out from the head of Cedric's wand and hurtled straight toward Eric.

The moment this curse was uttered, everyone watching was taken aback.

This is not an ordinary fire spell, but an enhanced and upgraded version of the fire spell, the Blazing Fire Spell.

The next step in the Fiery Curse is the infamous dark magic, the Fiery Curse.

Strictly speaking, this curse is already excessive, at least it would be excessive to use it in a duel with a classmate.

Many adult wizards cannot escape this curse, let alone underage students.

Hundreds of years ago, this spell had a very classic name: Fireball.

But back then, if a wizard wanted to use a fireball spell, he needed to chant a spell and prepare the magic channeling in advance.

It wasn't as convenient as it is now.

The raging flames coalesced into a ball, radiating heat relentlessly and evaporating all the surrounding moisture.

Light rain falling on the fireball had no effect whatsoever; it was instantly vaporized.

Some students who were close by felt their mouths go dry within just a few seconds of contact and quickly stepped back.

Looking at the ground, it had long since turned into a charred black mess.

Professor Flitwick was also startled and instinctively wanted to step forward to stop the duel, but when he turned around and saw Eric still looking calm and composed, he forcibly stopped himself.

He was waiting for Eric's move.

If Eric is completely helpless against this curse, then his intervention to stop the duel would prove that he misjudged Eric.

"The wind swirls!"

That wasn't all. Cedric unleashed another gust of wind, his Wind Spell striking precisely the fireball he had just summoned.

The fireball's speed suddenly increased again, and its range nearly doubled, making it even more terrifying.

The sky in front of Eric was already bright red, as if it were burning everything to ashes.

“This is somewhat interesting.” Eric looked up, slightly surprised, and said with a smile.

He remained calm and unhurried, twirling his wand as his spiritual energy spread outwards.

The surrounding raindrops seemed to be suddenly drawn by something, rushing toward Eric at an extremely fast speed.

Before Eric, the raindrops gradually coalesced into a ball, growing larger and larger until they finally transformed into a pair of enormous hands, which opened forward to meet Cedric's massive fireball.

The collision happened quickly; the palm and the fireball came together with a deep, loud thud, like a drumhead being kicked and shattered.

Then, a sharp, teeth-grinding hissing sound rang out, and a large amount of water vapor filled the entire stadium, creating a misty atmosphere where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

All that could be vaguely seen was that the fireball had completely disappeared, while the giant hand made of rain that Eric had summoned remained in place.

Is this a duel between geniuses?

The onlookers grimaced in disbelief.

Wood and Angelina, who were around Cedric's age, looked at Eric in disbelief.

They knew Cedric was strong, but they didn't expect Eric to be even stronger.

Witnessing Eric cast a spell firsthand was a tremendous shock to them.

Cedric is already the pinnacle among his peers.

But now it seems that Cedric has used all his skills, while Eric seems to have easily countered them with a wave of his hand, posing no threat to him at all.

Eric, however, was deep in thought.

Would it have been better to just use the Vanish Charm to move the fireball away? It's wet, which is a bit annoying.

Chapter 91 The Unquantifiable Gap

The moment Eric casually blocked the fireball with a spell, Cedric knew that he had almost no chance of winning.

This is his strongest offensive tactic.