Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

This isn't a no-go, it's a recommendation for the treasure book "Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars":

Avery burst out laughing beside him, and Alex laughed along, his shoulders twitching as he quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

Hermes' eye twitched; he remembered the last time Regulus had asked him that question.

Before he could answer, a stone spike emerged from under his feet and pressed against his throat, leaving him no time to raise his wand.

Hermes coughed lightly: "Fight normally."

Regulus raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean by 'fight normally'?"

Hermes choked for a moment.

"It's like..." he frowned, "like a wizard's duel, formal, with bows, and then it begins."

Avery added from the side, "You said the same thing last time."

Hermes glared at him.

Avery shrank back, looking rather odd.

Alex whispered, "No, last time I said that after I took a hit first."

Hermes' eye twitched again.

Regulus looked at his expression, a slight smile playing on his lips. After a moment, he asked, "Anything else?"

Hermes was silent for a moment: "Could you please not use that move?"

He didn't understand how the dummy's head had disappeared just now, but he knew that his own head wouldn't be any more durable.

Avery laughed again, put his hand on Alex's shoulder, and leaned towards him.

Alex didn't laugh out loud, but his shoulders shook even more violently.

Regulus was amused as well.

Hermes was usually gloomy and taciturn, keeping his distance from everyone.

He was a gloomy boy, well, he was notorious in Slytherin.

Even with Avery and Alex, he rarely spoke first, but they were all so familiar with each other that they were closely united around Regulus, and he would take the initiative to speak if a topic was brought up.

The question I just asked had a kind of frank cowardice about it, a kind of frankly cowardly cowardice.

But Regulus also knew that only someone who truly impressed Hermes could earn his respect; otherwise, given Hermes's temperament, he would rather stand there and take the beating than utter a word.

He nodded: "Okay."

Then she didn't say anything more, just looked at him.

Hermes glanced to the side, then looked back.

Still, silence.

He knew he was being laughed at. It was one thing for Avery and Alex to laugh, but even Regulus was laughing along, though not obviously, but he saw it.

He planned to pretend he didn't see it; what else could he do?

He didn't want to get hit.

Hermes's expression remained unchanged, his brows slightly furrowed, as if nothing had happened: "Don't use that last time... the eight spells fired at once... either."

Avery muttered something under his breath, and Alex nudged him with his elbow.

Regulus then nodded: "Okay."

Hermes fell silent again.

After thinking it over carefully, he realized that if he couldn't let Regulus use those two moves, then all that was left would be ordinary spells.

But even ordinary spells become extraordinary in Regulus's hands.

He remembered clearly that his armor spell was shattered by a barrier spell that Regulus casually cast when he was in first grade.

We can't let him control the power of the spell, can we?

What is that? A joke?

Hermes thought for a long time, then realized that continuing the conversation was indeed inappropriate. He looked up and said, "That's all."

Regulus said nothing and walked toward the center of the training ground, with Hermes following behind.

Avery sprang up from the bench, dragged Alex to the edge of the training field, and squatted down against the wall, his eyes shining.

"Here it comes, here it comes."

The two were ten meters apart.

Hermes took a deep breath, gripped his wand in his right hand with the tip pointing down, raised the wand to his chest with the tip pointing up, and bowed slightly.

Regulus returned the gesture by raising his staff as well.

Hermes knew he had made progress; the power of his spells was much greater than before, and he could cast them much faster. What used to require reciting the entire sentence, he could now do with just a few lip movements.

He wanted Regulus to see it.

I also want to see if three months of practice will allow him to see just how big the gap really is.

Regulus stood opposite him, his wand hanging at his side, his posture relaxed.

He looked serious, but Hermes knew he was just playing along.

Hermes ignored him, raised his wand, and moved his lips quickly a few times.

A dark red spell shot out from the tip of the staff, heading straight for Regulus's chest.

The speed was nearly twice as fast as it was three months ago, the beam was more concentrated, and there was almost no dispersion at the edges.

At the same time, his left hand was already prepared to cast a spell, and no matter which way Regulus dodged, the second spell would be cast.

Regulus stepped to the side, and the dark red beam of light grazed past his shoulder.

Hermes had already cast his second spell, the Disarming Spell, which struck Regulus's left side, blocking his path of movement.

Regulus leaned to the right, his feet shifting direction as he did so. The spell flew past him, struck the wall behind him, and exploded into a cloud of red light.

Hermes continued, the third, the fourth.

All of them turned to stone. Regulus tilted his head slightly, and the incantation passed by his ear.

Regulus stood frozen, his legs stiff. He lifted his leg and took a step, the spell striking his heel, but it missed.

Flames roared, fanning out from the tip of the staff and striking the spaces to the left and right of Regulus.

Regulus moved his feet, and his figure disappeared the instant the flames swept over him, reappearing two meters away.

Side-shifting spell.

The flames swept past where he had just been standing, burning only the air.

Hermes' eye twitched. What kind of movement was that?

He had no time to think. He flicked his wand three times, sending out three spells simultaneously, heading straight for Regulus's front and left and right sides.

Regulus moved his feet again, this time using the Sprint spell.

Accelerating in a straight line, so fast that it left afterimages, it passed through the gap between the three spells and appeared to Hermes' right.

Hermes reacted quickly, his wand already turned around, and a dark green mist spread from the tip of the wand, covering a three-meter radius around Regulus.

Regulus switched to the Swiftness Charm, increasing his speed and retreating five meters, sliding out from the edge of the mist without even touching the hem of his robe.

Avery crouched by the wall, his mouth slightly open.

"Did you see that?" He nudged Alex.

Alex's eyes never left the training field: "I saw it."

"What kind of spell was that that suddenly disappeared from his hand?"

Alex shook his head.

Avery thought for a moment, then said with certainty, "It's Apparition."

Alex turned to look at him: "Apparition? At Hogwarts?"

Avery paused for a moment, then waved his hand: "It must have been improved; the Black family has a secret technique."

Alex turned back to look at the training field, ignoring him.

Avery continued, lowering his voice, "Think about it, the Black family has produced a headmaster, so it's not surprising that Regulus can be of use."

Alex still ignored him.

He couldn't understand it, but he knew Avery couldn't understand it either, and what Avery had just said sounded wrong; he was probably making it up.

But he didn't expose it.

On the training field, Hermes cast three more spells.

The first bone and blood stripping, dark red almost black, struck Regulus head-on.

The second tearing shadow, a black blade of light, sliced ​​through from the side.

The third Shadow Binding Bite, a black tentacle, was hidden behind the tearing shadow, moving faster and at a more treacherous angle.

The three incantations were unleashed almost simultaneously.

Regulus veered to the left to dodge the red and black beams, then used a sprint spell to accelerate, passing through the gaps between the blades and tentacles.

Hermes stopped shooting; he couldn't hit anything, so how could he shoot?

Regulus stood a few steps away, breathing steadily, his robes not even wrinkled.

almost.

Hermes has made significant progress in the past three months; his spells are more powerful, his casting speed is faster, and he has also developed tactical awareness.

Even among young wizards a few years older, he would be considered top-tier.

But that's not enough; you need to practice.

Regulus raised his wand.

Hermes instinctively activated his armor spell, and a silver barrier unfolded in front of him, twice as thick as it had been three months ago, with almost no fluctuations at the edges.

Regulus pointed at the tip of his staff.

The Barrier Spell shot out a purple flash from the tip of the staff, much faster than Hermes's earlier attack.

The spell collided with the armored spell, and the barrier trembled violently, but did not shatter.

Hermes breathed a sigh of relief.

Then the second one came, another obstacle spell, another purple flash, hitting the same spot.

The barrier shattered.

Before Hermes could react, the third one was already in front of him.

He lunged to the side, and just as his body left its original position, an obstacle spell grazed his shoulder, tearing a hole in his robe.

Before he could even get his footing, the fourth wave came, heading straight for where he had landed.

Hermes twisted his body abruptly, slipped, and nearly fell. The spell grazed his side, brushing against his robe and tearing a piece of fabric.

He staggered a couple of steps, pointed his wand at Regulus, and tried to retaliate.

But Regulus's spell came again, giving him no chance.

The fifth, the sixth, the seventh, one after another, were all obstacle spells.

Purple flashes formed a continuous pattern in the training ground, but instead of hitting Hermes, they struck him from the front, back, left, and right, forcing him to move to the position Regulus wanted him to go.

Hermes started running.

He didn't want to run, but if he didn't run, he would be hit.

The Iron Armor Spell had shattered and couldn't be repaired in time; each spell was stuck in the gap between his incantations.

He was about to raise his wand when the next spell came, forcing him to dodge and move, giving him no time to cast a spell.

He ran with a furrowed brow, gritted his teeth, and his mouth agape, his steps growing heavier and his breathing more rapid.

But Regulus didn't even move his feet; he simply flicked his wrist and tapped the tip of his staff, sending out one obstacle spell after another.

Purple light flickered in the training field, its rhythm steady, like a metronome.

Hermes dodged left, dodged right, lunged forward, and rolled to the side.

He tried casting spells while moving, but Regulus's spells came too fast; the moment his lips moved, the next one was upon him, forcing him to dodge.

There wasn't even time to cast a spell.

Avery has stopped talking.

He crouched by the wall, his eyes fixed on the series of purple flashes in the training field, his head turning in the direction Hermes was moving.

Alex stood beside him, his gaze never leaving him.

On the training field, Regulus stopped, and Hermes bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the floor, and his robe was crumpled in several places.

He looked up at Regulus.

Regulus was still standing there, his wand hanging at his side, his face expressionless.

Hermes' heart was in turmoil.

He thought he had progressed fast enough, that every single one of those dark spells could actually kill a person.

But Regulus didn't even retaliate; he just dodged, so Regulus couldn't hit him.

He fought back, using Obstacle Curses, the most basic spells, nothing special, but these few Obstacle Curses left him no time to cast them.

I've never seen anything like this before.

He knew that Regulus was telling him that no matter how powerful dark magic was, it was useless if it couldn't hit the target.

Even the most basic spells, if used well, leave no chance to fight back. In fact, it was Regulus who made him run away.

Hermes straightened up, removed his hands from his knees, and was still breathing heavily, but better than before.

He walked toward the bench.

Avery and Alex stood up from the wall and followed behind.

The four people sat back down on the bench.

Regulus rested his wand on his lap and remained silent.

Hermes sat beside him, head bowed, hands resting on his knees.

There was a moment of silence.

Regulus asked, "What should we do if this happens again?"

Hermes did not speak; he knew Regulus was asking him a question, but he did not know the answer.

If his opponent is faster than him, casts spells faster, and each spell traps him, giving him no chance to make a move, what can he do?

He couldn't figure it out.

Regulus turned to Avery and Alex: "What did you see just now?"

Avery interjected, "You're too fast, Hermes can't keep up."

Regulus neither nodded nor shook his head.

Alex thought for a moment, but couldn't figure it out. He lowered his head and continued thinking.

Regulus didn't ask any more questions. He turned back to Hermes and said, "Think about it yourself first. Once you've figured it out, tell me during the next training session."

Hermes nodded.

Regulus stood up and stretched his shoulders. "Alright, let's go back and eat."

The four walked out of the training field, with Avery in the lead, Alex behind him, Hermes in the middle, and Regulus at the back.

Avery took a few steps, then suddenly turned around: "Regulus, what kind of spell was that that which suddenly disappeared and then reappeared?"

Regulus glanced at him: "Apparition."

Avery choked, opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Alex chuckled softly behind him, and Hermes' lips curled up slightly.