A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Chapter 283 Duel Match

Felix carried the candy box toward classroom number seven, still pondering the question he had just asked Dumbledore.

Neither he nor Dumbledore were easily persuaded. Expecting them to believe Sirius Black was innocent with just a story was no easy task.

Both were masters of mind control and thought manipulation. Although they rarely used it in normal times, they would not hesitate to use it in critical moments.

The difference is that he wasn't very familiar with Sirius Black, and much of what he knew was hearsay, which is why he needed to confirm the Occlumency issue with Dumbledore.

Since Sirius Black is not skilled in Occlumency, his words are highly credible.

……

Felix walked to a quiet corridor, opened the candy box, and there sat the shrunken Sirius, atop a pile of candies, clutching a small piece of crucible cake, asking blankly, "Are we here?"

"Not yet—we need to make some preparations. You probably don't want to run into Severus, and Harry carries a spyglass with him to protect himself from you. These things need to be taken care of."

"What should we do?"

Felix didn't speak. He touched a few candies in the box with his wand, and they magically transformed into a full suit of armor, very similar in style to the armor in Hogwarts Castle, even including a closed helmet.

"Put it on quickly," he said to Sirius.

"I like your idea." Sirius couldn't wait to change into his new clothes and try to move his body. "I feel like I've become a real knight, but I'm still missing a knight's sword."

Felix granted his request, transforming his licorice wand into a knight's longsword.

Sirius Black, clad in full-body armor, deftly wielded his longsword. If one disregarded his tiny size, he truly possessed the bearing of a classical medieval knight.

"This looks just like a knightly magic puppet. I can introduce you to the other professors. Now, let me think about how to block the spyglass..."

Layers of magical light began to emanate from Sirius's armor. Finally, at the eye socket of his helmet, Felix let Sirius choose between black and red, and he chose red.

The knight's eyes were then covered by a layer of crimson smoke, making him look more menacing and majestic.

9:40 a.m.

Felix walked into classroom number seven, which was bustling with activity. Hundreds of people were gathered around a large open space, discussing animatedly.

The open space was artificially divided into seven grids, each with a different terrain: flat land, forest, hillside, rocky beach, swamp, winding maze, and a small patch of ice.

To the east, where the best view is, stands a high platform with a row of seats. Flitwick and Snape have already arrived. In addition to these two regular professors of the Duel Class, several other professors have come on their own initiative, spontaneously conjuring up chairs, their expressions filled with excitement and anticipation.

Felix walked up to the platform, casually placed the palm-sized knight on the table, and greeted them warmly, "Felius, Severus... Professor Lupin, you've come too?"

"I've come to join in the fun," Lupin said. "I didn't have any of these novelties when I was in school."

Snape said slowly, "But your extracurricular life is also quite eventful, wandering around and causing trouble..."

Lu Ping said tactfully, "Looking back at our younger selves, weren't we all ignorant fools?"

Sirius Black on the table moved about with a "clattering" sound, dragging his closed armor, and swung his longsword violently, seemingly protesting Lupin's statement.

Flitwick was about to change the subject, his eyes scanning the surroundings. When he saw the 'knight,' his eyes lit up: "Felix, can your magical puppet move on its own?"

Felix smiled and said, "That was a long time ago. I tried to get them to do some simple tasks, well... to free my assistant from grading assignments. She doesn't need to reinforce these simple concepts anymore."

"Is it Miss Granger?" Lupin asked. "She's a very clever witch who does an excellent job in class."

Flitwick stared at the knight on the table. Sirius was so nervous that his movements were distorted, but in this way he looked more like a rusty metal doll.

"Did I see things wrong? I actually sensed embarrassment in its movements..."

Felix took some magical puppets out of his ring and distributed them to the professors. "I'm trying to get them to understand some simple commands, similar to magical images, but the results aren't great. I need your feedback."

He calmly took the 'Knight' in his hand, gave it a shake, and, seeing Flitwick's puzzled expression, explained, "This guy isn't very bright..."

Time quickly came to ten o'clock. Percy and Penelope stood in the center of the open space. Percy was very excited, and his voice was off-key. "Ladies and gentlemen, this duel is being organized by the Student Council. I, Percy Weasley, and Penelope Crivart will be in charge of maintaining order throughout the event."

"First, here's some basic information: There are a total of 218 participants, who will compete in seven different venues at random. Seven matches will be played simultaneously, starting from the first grade."

Penelope Crivat said, "You all know the rules. What I want to say is that the professors will comment on some exciting duels or warn against violations. Please be sure to follow the rules, especially the use of black magic is strictly prohibited."

She surveyed the room with an air of authority, while Percy cleared his throat beside her. "That's right, exactly."

"Those whose names are called, come here to draw lots to choose your terrain. Once the terrain is determined, your opponents will also be determined."

A deafening roar erupted from the crowd. Harry gripped his wand tightly, his heart pounding, his blood surging. But those around him seemed even more nervous; Ron's lips trembled, and Hermione muttered incessantly. He moved closer and heard her rapidly reciting the dueling system paper, which had just been revised for the third time.

Draco Malfoy, sitting opposite Harry, was even paler than usual. His two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, kept swallowing hard, and Goyle choked on his own saliva, coughing repeatedly.

Draco frowned, walked to the other side, and when Harry came into his sight, he gave a malicious smile—or at least that's what Harry thought, as his nervousness subsided surprisingly.

If given the chance, he would be happy to give Malfoy a good whack on the face.

The game officially started.

The competition for first graders was quite dull. Apart from one student who successfully cast a curse and won a few scattered applause, most of the others kept chanting ineffective spells with grimaces.

After only three rounds of competition, the final round was held, and a lovely little girl won the first-grade championship.

Next up was the second-year competition. Ginny decisively used a Stunning Charm to knock out her opponent, and then won several more matches, successfully taking the championship.

"Ginny's already that amazing?" Ron said in surprise.

"Yeah, it wasn't really unexpected. She's always been with us in our group activities," Harry said.

Percy's serious voice came through—

"There are quite a few third-year students. The first group has fourteen people: Milison Burst, Hermione Granger, Daphne Greengrass... Blaise Sabine, Justin Finley, please come up to the stage."

Hermione walked unsteadily to the front, almost tripping over Neville. She shuffled to the drawing of lots and was surprised to find that everyone else was performing similarly to her. The student named Sabine seemed to be floating on air, as if he were walking on a ball of cotton.

Hermione drew the rocky beach terrain, and she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If she had drawn the ice surface, she wouldn't have been able to fight; she couldn't even stand up straight.

After the fourteen third-grade students were in place, Percy announced in a drawn-out tone, "The duel begins—"

Hermione was facing Daphne Greengrass. The two were old rivals, but their previous disputes were limited to magical puppets. This was their first real duel.

"Disarm!" Hermione shouted, her mind racing through the dueling theory paper. My attack speed was faster; she had to dodge. I would gain the upper hand...

But things didn't go as expected. Although Daphne was much slower than her, she still managed to shout out a spell: "Faint!"

Hermione watched helplessly as her disarming spell struck Daphne, her wand flying out of her hand and spinning toward her. But at the same time, a red spell grazed her hair and struck a nearby rock.

Hermione froze for a few seconds, then instinctively grabbed the flying wand. Seeing Daphne's angry face, she realized she had won. But Hermione felt no joy at the victory. She couldn't help but lean closer and whisper, "Why didn't you dodge? You should have..."

Daphne glared at her. "Why should I hide?"

"But, but—" Hermione was full of questions, "You're not as fast as me, logically speaking—"

"Whose logic is that? You use a disarming spell, I'll use a stunning spell. As long as I hit you, I win."

Hermione wanted to continue arguing that it was too risky and pointless in actual combat, but Percy had already reminded the students who were finishing their matches to leave the field as soon as possible. She glared at Daphne and stormed off.

Back in the Gryffindor crowd, Hermione was still fuming, saying, "She was just gambling. I don't believe she would dare do that in a real fight—"

Harry advised, "Actually, she has a point. Under normal circumstances, she has no chance of beating you. On the contrary, if her strategy succeeds—"

He obediently shut his mouth, because Hermione looked like a lion with its mane standing on end.

"Next, those whose names are called in the second group, please step forward—Draco Malfoy, Seamus Finnigan, Ron Weasley, Gregory Goyle…"

"Let's watch the game," Harry said. "It's almost my turn."

Harry's name still wasn't in the second group, so he could only wait patiently. Then, an accident happened in this group: a young wizard mispronounced a spell, and snail tentacles sprouted from his hand's head. The young wizard, on the verge of tears, cried out, "What spell were you trying to use?"

Mrs. Pomfrey walked over quickly, observed for a moment, and said, "It will take you at least three hours to recover, child."

The young wizard touched the tentacles on his head, and it didn't seem so bad: "Can I stay here and watch the game, Mrs. Pomfrey? I don't want to go to the school hospital."

Mrs. Pomfrey looked at him with a puzzled expression. "You could, but aren't you afraid of being laughed at—"

"Then there's no problem."

After drinking the potion, the boy excitedly returned to his academy and showed off his new headdress to his companions, who were surrounded by gasps of amazement and envious glances.

Ron returned triumphantly, saying with satisfaction, "Actually, my first spell failed, but I hid behind a rock, and Goyle stood there like an idiot, getting bound like a dumpling by my next spell..."

"Next, the third group—Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Vincent Crabbe, Ernie McMillan, Harry Potter…"

The dueling competition was in full swing, and by the time it reached the semi-final stage in the third year, even the older students couldn't help but watch it seriously.

"Who's that little round-faced guy? He and Potter are going toe-to-toe in a fight."

"I don't know, it seems like it just appeared out of nowhere."

"They must be Potter's friends; look how happy they are."

"I vaguely remember seeing him in Potter's dueling study group..."

During the third-year finals, Harry looked at Draco across from him with surprise. "I didn't expect to see you standing here, Malfoy." They had drawn the woodland field, with a dozen or so ancient trees scattered around.

Draco grinned. "You should see how I taught that Weasley a lesson, with my new magic."

Harry glanced back at Ron, who was sitting on the ground, looking dazed and blank, and who looked somewhat like Luna.

"The game begins—" Percy was already a little tired, and the voice was Penelope's cool and clear voice.

Harry instinctively took a step to the side, simultaneously casting a silent disarming spell. He didn't care about power with the first spell; he wanted to gain the upper hand. Draco then retreated, hiding behind a sturdy-looking tree trunk. "Potter—Tongue Lock Throat!"

Harry jumped back quickly, the spell going way off track. Judging the distance, he countered with a Binding Charm; a magically formed rope flew out and tightly wrapped itself around the tree trunk. He heard Draco grunt, and just as he was about to step forward, a surge of danger overwhelmed him.

He quickly cast an armor spell on himself, shouting, "Protect yourself!" An invisible barrier formed in front of him, blocking Draco's carefully prepared spell.

"Pendulum Strike!"

"Thump!"

The heavy tolling of the bells sounded, and Harry felt as if he had been struck by a giant hammer; the magical barrier cracked like a spiderweb. Even hiding behind the Ironclad Charm, he was affected, his ears ringing and vibrating incessantly.

He endured the discomfort, staring wide-eyed at the other side. After about ten seconds, his vision cleared again.

"Ron was hit by this spell? Even if he blocked it, it would still cause temporary dizziness, like being hit by a giant swing in a clock tower."

Harry watched Draco hiding behind a tree, occasionally unleashing his "Big Swing," and grew increasingly impatient. He quickly closed the distance between them, when a flash of red light, slightly off-target, nearly struck him. Harry jumped back behind a tree, and the area fell silent.

"Malfoy, weren't you going to show me your new magic? I did see it, but do I need to remind you? I just thought of construction workers, wielding huge sledgehammers and banging things around..."

Harry crouched down, waited two seconds, and released the Ironclad Charm in advance. Sure enough, a red light flew over but was blocked!

Without a second thought, he stepped out of the protective range of the Ironclad Charm. Draco was leaning out halfway when an exaggerated red beam of light shot out from Harry's wand and struck Draco squarely in the chest.

Draco was sent flying, crashing into a tree. His eyelids rolled back, and he passed out without uttering a sound.

"We won!"

Harry shouted excitedly. This battle was much more difficult than he had expected, mainly due to the terrain. His spells were simply not powerful enough to destroy a tree three feet in diameter, and he couldn't fully utilize his advantage.

He recalled Professor Hyp's advice—mastering more magic meant being able to handle different situations with ease. He couldn't help but wonder: if he were proficient in the Explosion Charm and the Fire Charm, would he be able to resolve battles much more easily?

He knew what he was going to do next.

"Wonderful!"

The students watching held their breath, appreciating this high-level duel, until the result was announced, at which point they burst into enthusiastic cheers and applause.

Harry scratched his head, looked up at the judges' table, Lupin smiled at him, Snape looked down at him expressionlessly, Professor Flitwick was very excited, Professor Hyp chuckled, and there was an Iron Man in front of him, waving his sword at him vigorously.

Is that the professor's newly made magical puppet?

Harry suppressed his joy, trying not to let his grin widen too much, and waved back.

Congratulations on the birth of the fifth Alliance Leader in this book! Thank you to Alliance Leader Liu Zi Pa Shui for the generous donation. He is a true master, the author of "Shao Song".

PS: This chapter has 4600 words, and I didn't split it up for the sake of plot continuity.

(End of this chapter)