Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

The two stood ten feet apart and bowed slightly in greeting.

"Begin," Narcissa announced.

Hermes moved almost the instant he finished speaking, his wand pointing sharply forward: "Grinning whoosh!"

A silver light shot towards Regulus. The duel started with a comical spell, which wasn't particularly fierce, but it was very sudden.

Without moving an inch, Regulus casually waved his wand, and a silver light flew from the tip of the wand, colliding precisely with Hermes' spell in mid-air, exploding into a shimmering cloud of light.

"Legs stand still, stop and die!" Hermes immediately followed with the second spell, and a streak of blue light flew swiftly along the ground.

Regulus merely tapped the ground with his wand, and an invisible barrier rose in front of him. The Leg-Locking Curse flew diagonally toward the wall and dissipated, as if it had hit a slope.

"Obstacles abound!" Hermes secretly unleashed the third spell.

"Obstacles everywhere." Regulus chanted the same incantation, and the two identical incantations collided in the center of the open space, producing a dull "thump" sound.

But Regulus's spell was clearly more powerful; it not only shattered Hermes's spell but also continued to hurtle towards Hermes without dissipating.

Hermes barely managed to dodge by rolling on the ground, looking rather disheveled.

The younger students nearby stared wide-eyed, covering their mouths in surprise, while the older students nodded in agreement.

Anyone could see that Regulus's spell was incredibly powerful.

Regulus still did not launch an attack, but calmly parried or deflected each of Hermes' attacks. The binding spell was knocked away, and the raging flames were extinguished by clear water.

Some spells are even flashed by with the slightest movement.

Throughout the entire process, Regulus never left the small area where he initially stood.

He used only the most basic defensive and disruptive spells from the Standard Spellbook, but each one was just right, executed with effortless ease.

His expression remained unchanged from beginning to end, as if he were not in a battle, and his relaxed demeanor was more like that of a teacher giving a lesson.

Hermes' attacks became faster and faster, and his spells became more and more tricky, demonstrating a spellcasting skill far exceeding that of ordinary freshmen, clearly indicating that he had received prior instruction at home.

But his complexion grew increasingly pale, and his breathing became heavier.

He wasn't stupid; he could tell that Regulus hadn't used his full strength at all, or perhaps hadn't used any strength at all.

This effortless handling of the situation is humiliating and leaves one feeling powerless.

"All you do is hide, Black!" Hermes growled, his eyes flashing with anger and ruthlessness.

He stopped his rapid combo, raised his wand high, and began chanting the spell in a lower, more difficult tone. An ominous dark red light gathered at the tip of the wand, and the surrounding air seemed to grow colder.

Several upperclassmen frowned, and Prefect Lucretius stepped forward, seemingly wanting to stop them.

Narcissa frowned, her fingers already gripping her wand.

But it was too late.

"Bone and blood stripped!" Hermes hissed as he finished the last few syllables, and a dark red, almost black beam of light, exuding a chilling and painful aura, shot fiercely toward Regulus!

Black magic!

Although it was clearly an incomplete version, its power greatly diminished, its insidious and vicious nature was unmistakable, and a gasp rippled through the lounge.

Faced with this malicious attack, Regulus's usually calm and composed gaze finally showed a subtle change.

Sure enough, Hermes was skilled in dark magic, and Regulus could clearly sense that he had used this magic on living people.

Ah, a family tradition of learning.

Regulus no longer uses those basic spells.

He pointed his wand forward slightly, without any gestures or incantations; the movement was extremely simple.

A solid, crystal-like silver barrier instantly appeared in front of him, its surface flowing with complex yet orderly ripples.

The dark red beam of light slammed into the silver barrier.

A hissing sound, as if metal was being corroded, came from the docking point.

The dark red light frantically eroded the silver shield, but could not penetrate it.

After a stalemate of about two seconds, the dark red beam of light finally dissipated completely, leaving Hermes pale and incredulous, while the silver barrier remained as solid as ever.

At the very instant the dark red light dissipated, Regulus took a step forward, and a red light shone from the tip of his wand.

"Eliminate your weapon."

A beam of red light, far more solid and swift than any of Hermes' previous spells, struck Hermes' chest instantly, like lightning tearing through the air.

"Snapped!"

The wand flew high into the air, spinning in an arc, before being caught steadily by Regulus's other free hand.

The battle is over.

This was Regulus's way of showing respect to his roommate; otherwise, a single limp spell would have been enough to make Hermes kneel.

From the moment Hermes cast his dark magic to Regulus dismantling the attack and completing the disarming, the entire process took less than five seconds, so fast that many people hadn't even recovered from the shock of the dark magic's appearance.

The lounge was deathly silent; everyone was staring at the center of the open space.

Hermes stood still, his right hand still holding the staff.

His body trembled slightly, his face was ashen, and his eyes were vacant, as if he could not accept that his most secret and relied-upon method had been so easily broken.

Regulus stepped forward and handed Hermes' wand back to him, his voice still calm, devoid of victor's smugness or disdain for dark magic, only utter composure:

"Not a bad attempt, but the spell's structure is unstable and the magic supply is intermittent. Next time you use it, you'd better think about killing me instead of hesitating."

As soon as he finished speaking, the air in the lounge seemed to freeze instantly.

The word 'kill,' spoken so calmly by an eleven-year-old boy, sends chills down your spine.

The older students reacted most directly. Lucretius Burke raised his eyebrows, his eyes flashing with undisguised admiration, or even surprise.

Beside him, several core pureblood students in their fifth and sixth years exchanged glances and whispered among themselves: "Did you hear that? 'Thinking about killing me'!"

Merlin! To hear those words coming from a first-year student...

"Elegant, powerful, and..." A seventh-grade girl from the Carlo family licked her lips, her eyes burning.

"He doesn't make a fuss about dark magic like those hypocrites; he knows what it is, and that's what we Slytherins should be like!"

"The Black family might actually produce a formidable figure this time," another boy from the Nott family concluded, his tone tinged with caution.

In their view, Regulus viewed black magic objectively, evaluating the skill of the user while ignoring its inherent evil nature.

In a sense, this attitude aligns more with the values ​​of certain ancient pure-blood families than Hermes's half-baked dark magic itself.

Alex Rozier's lips moved. He looked at Hermes, who was pale and seemed to have his soul ripped out, and then at Regulus, who remained calm.

He wanted to say something, such as, "This is just a contest, talking about killing or not killing is going too far..." or "Hermes used dark magic, that's not right...".

But the words just wouldn't come out.

When Regulus’s calm gaze swept over him, he felt all his childish thoughts freeze, and he could only frantically lower his head and stare at the tips of his shoes.

Avery Cuthbert, however, had a different mindset.

During the previous flight class conflict, he thought that the gap between himself and Regulus might not be that big, and that it was just a matter of pursuing skills and thinking.

Now he understood; the difference was obvious to the naked eye. He clenched his fist, then slowly relaxed it, ultimately just looking at the two people in the arena with a complicated expression, and did nothing.

Hermes Murseb himself, however, suddenly focused his empty eyes, staring intently at Regulus, his gaze filled with humiliation, shock, fear, and a hint of embarrassment.

He did hesitate; he dared not, and could not, unleash the full power of the spell in full view of everyone.

He abruptly grabbed his wand, his fingers digging until his knuckles turned white, lowered his head, and quickly retreated into the shadows at the edge of the crowd, locking all his emotions back under that gloomy mask.

"Ahem." Narcissa coughed lightly, breaking the eerie atmosphere.

She and Lucretius exchanged a glance, both understanding that tonight's welcome party had achieved its intended effect, even exceeding expectations.

There's no need to continue, and there's no suspense left.

Lucretius stepped forward, glanced around at the remaining freshmen, and asked in his usual tone, "So, does anyone want to challenge Black or Murseb?"

His gaze slowly swept over them. Alex lowered his head, and the other freshmen shook their heads repeatedly, avoiding his gaze.

Even Avery, who might have had some initial hope, stood silently in place, offering no response.

"In that case, Regulus Black will be awarded the top spot among the new students. I hope everyone will take this as their goal and strive to improve themselves."