Hogwarts: I Became the Third Dark Lord.

Despite Snape's warning, Cassandra resolutely spoke up:

"Don't worry, Headmaster, I'm confident I can defeat Wentworth. After all, I already defeated him once in today's Defense Against the Dark Arts class!"

Upon hearing Cassandra mention that she had already defeated Wentworth once, Snape immediately became interested and asked:

"Oh? What happened? Describe the situation in detail."

But when Snape heard Cassandra recount what had happened, he lost interest. In Snape's view, Wentworth's behavior at the time actually confirmed one thing: Wentworth was consciously hiding his strength.

"An eleven-year-old child can endure criticism and resist the opportunity to show off in front of his classmates. This kid has such a deep mind!"

Snape couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Seeing that Snape still wouldn't agree to let her represent the first-year Slytherin students in the battle, Cassandra grew anxious. Reluctantly, she took out her wand and said:

"I, Cassandra, will represent the first year of Slytherin in this battle. I am the strongest among the first year of Slytherin. Anyone who disagrees can come out and try!"

Upon hearing Cassandra's words, several first-year Slytherin students couldn't help but feel restless. After all, this was Slytherin, and its students were never short of pride and ambition. No one wanted to miss the opportunity to show off in front of the entire school!

Cassandra can usually act arrogantly in the academy, partly because of her family background, but more so because it's a privilege reserved for beautiful women! Nobody wants to be accused of not being a gentleman.

Cassandra also saw the restless look in many people's eyes and gave a cold smile.

"Armor protection!"

A beautiful protective charm was instantly released, clean and efficient, which surprised even Snape standing to the side.

The Slytherin freshmen who had been eager to make their move all backed down. After all, the vast majority of freshmen didn't know this spell, and even those who occasionally learned it from their elders couldn't achieve the same beauty as Cassandra!

Seeing this, Snape no longer hesitated and spoke directly:

"Alright, with Cassandra added, the five of you will represent Slytherin tonight! You five come with me now, I'll explain the rules of dueling and give you some special training. Anyone who embarrasses me tonight, hmph!"

"As for the rest of you, go do what you're supposed to do! You don't even have the right to represent Slytherin, yet you dare to stand here wasting your time?!"

As soon as Snape finished speaking, the rest of the Slytherins scattered. Many of them even felt that not being chosen might not be such a bad thing.

Just as Snape was giving Cassandra and Wehrmacht special training, Professor Sprout, accompanied by Professor Flitwick, entered Hufflepuff's common room.

As the Head of Hufflepuff and Professor of Herbalism at Hogwarts, Professor Sprout was well aware of the differences between the two houses.

Since he wasn't good at dueling, Professor Sprout simply approached Professor Flitwick, a former dueling champion, to give Hufflepuff some pointers.

Professor Flitwick, faced with his old friend's request, readily agreed without hesitation.

Both sides are making their final preparations for tonight's duel!

Chapter Forty: The Duel Begins

The wind at Hogwarts was rather noisy tonight. The Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was packed with students and professors, all waiting for the upcoming duel between Slytherin and Hufflepuff.

"A portable magnifying glass! Let you see every spell clearly! Made by Weasley, it's always top-notch!"

The Weasley twins even started selling their homemade magnifying glasses in the classroom; after all, without some tricks up your sleeve, it's hard to see the duel clearly from the gaps in the crowd.

Professor Snape and the Slytherin students were already waiting here for the arrival of Hufflepuff, but the other protagonists of this duel, the Hufflepuff students, were nowhere to be seen.

"Could they have run away out of fear?"

Welling stood behind Professor Snape and said with a displeased expression.

Meanwhile, outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Wentworth, Cedric, and others were standing.

"Wentworth, aren't we going in?"

Kirk leaned closer and asked.

Wentworth, however, calmly stated:

"Prefect Kirk, no need to rush. The main characters always make their appearance last. Let them wait a while, and it would be best if they got impatient before we made our appearance!"

As the agreed time drew closer, some commotion began to emerge among the Slytherin students. Some even started to wander off, while others gathered in small groups to chat.

Finally, Wei Lin couldn't hold back any longer and walked up to the three professors who would be the referees that night, saying rather anxiously:

"Professor, if Hufflepuff doesn't show up by the agreed time, does that mean Slytherin has won?"

Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Ilona exchanged glances and then spoke:

"Of course, if the time comes and Hufflepuff hasn't arrived yet, according to the rules of the duel, Slytherin will naturally be the winner."

Upon hearing this, Weylin was caught in a dilemma. On one hand, he hoped that Hufflepuff would appear so that he could teach them a lesson, and on the other hand, he hoped that Hufflepuff would not appear so that Slytherin could win without a fight.

Just as Wellin and the other Slytherins were in a state of great distress, the agreed-upon time was fast approaching.

Wentworth, standing outside the door, glanced at the time one last time, then turned to the Hufflepuff students behind him and said:

"It's our turn to appear, tonight's main characters!"

Just as the clock was about to strike six, and Wellin was staring longingly at the classroom door, suddenly, the door was opened from the outside.

Wentworth led the way, pushing open the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and entering. Cedric and Kirk followed closely behind, one on each side.

Originally, Wentworth wanted Kirk to go first, but Kirk refused. After reading Wentworth's complete plan, Kirk was immediately impressed and insisted that Wentworth go first.

Behind them, all the Hufflepuff students, lined up in two neat rows, walked in with their heads held high, dressed in clean and tidy yellow Hufflepuff uniforms.

The imposing and orderly Hufflepuffs immediately outshone the loosely organized Slytherins. Even the Gryffindors, who had never liked Slytherins, were now cheering for the Hufflepuffs, led by the Weasley twins.

Seeing this, all the professors showed expressions of satisfaction, except for Snape. Sprout and Ilona, ​​in particular, looked extremely proud.

"Did all of you Hufflepuffs get lost at Hogwarts?"

After waiting for a while, Wei Lin spoke sarcastically.

Meanwhile, on Hufflepuff's side, before Wentworth could speak, Kirk interjected from behind:

"This is really strange. I've seen people fight over food, I've seen people fight over seats, but this is the first time I've seen someone fight over food and get beaten up!"

Seeing that a verbal battle was about to break out between the two sides, Professor McGonagall, acting as the referee, coughed twice and said:

"Alright, shut up! Do you two want to become a laughingstock for the other houses? You should know that you represent Slytherin and Hufflepuff!"

That finally shut up Welling and Green!

Seeing this, Professor Flitwick stepped forward and said:

"Alright, as agreed beforehand, you two academies should hand over the list of participants for the duel to Professor Ilona. And I will reiterate the rules of the duel once again!"

"First, it's not allowed..."

Just as Professor Flitwick was reiterating the dueling rules, Wehrmacht handed the Slytherin list to Professor Ilona, ​​while giving Grimm a vicious look.

Then, Wehrmacht handed the Hufflepuff list to Professor Ilona, ​​giving Wehrmacht a smile.

For some reason, when Welling saw Green's smile, he felt a chill. He had a feeling that Green's smile tonight was sinister and hid some kind of conspiracy.

When Professor Ilona saw the lists submitted by both sides, her brows furrowed as if she had discovered something. However, after a moment, Professor Ilona seemed to have figured something out, and her brows relaxed, revealing a meaningful smile.

After Professor Flitwick finished explaining the rules of the duel, he looked at Dumbledore, who stood up casually and said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the reason we at Hogwarts are reopening the Duel Club tonight is to enhance interaction among students, not to determine who is superior or inferior, much less to fight to the death. I hope that tonight's duels will not result in any injuries!"

"So, are both sides ready for tonight's duel?"

"All right!"

Welling and Wentworth spoke at the same time.

Seeing this, Dumbledore raised both hands and said at the same time:

"Therefore, I hereby declare the duel between Slytherin and Hufflepuff officially open!"

As Dumbledore finished speaking, a burst of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the crowd. However, upon closer inspection, it was clear that most of the cheers came from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw students, while Slytherin and Hufflepuff students were watching intently at the center of the arena, where their respective house representatives were standing.

Amid cheers, Ilona, ​​the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, slowly walked to the center of the dueling arena and began to speak:

"For the first duel, Slytherin's representative is—Wayne!"

Amidst cheers from the Slytherins and boos from the Hufflepuffs, Warlin eagerly stepped onto the dueling arena.

As Wellin came to a stop, Professor Ilona continued:

"The representative of Hufflepuff is Wentworth!"

As Professor Ilona called out Wentworth's name, the room fell silent. All the students stared blankly as Wentworth walked step by step into the dueling arena.

Even Dumbledore and Snape looked surprised and puzzled.

Chapter 41 An Unexpected Duel

Seeing that Wentworth had reached the center of the arena and stood opposite Wellin, everyone present finally confirmed that the first person to represent Hufflepuff Academy in the battle was indeed Wentworth!

The students from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw erupted in a commotion; some were incredulous, some wore mocking expressions, and others seemed lost in thought.

"Grin! What are you doing? I already said I'd go first! Our Slytherin order of appearance is from fifth year to first year! And you're letting a first-year student take your place?! Are you scared?!"

Seeing that the person standing in front of him was not his old rival Green, but a Hufflepuff freshman, Wellin felt as if he had been humiliated and couldn't help but shout in the direction of Hufflepuff.

Green, however, seemed not to hear at all, chatting with Cedric beside him and ignoring Wellin completely.

Professor McGonagall, however, upon seeing this order of appearance, kindly offered a reminder:

“Green, did you Hufflepuffs get the order of appearance wrong? Did you forget to start from fifth grade and start from first grade? If so, I'll take charge, you can adjust the order of appearance now.”

Although she could ignore what Warlin and she said, she still had to respond to what Professor McGonagall said.

Green turned around and said to Professor McGonagall with great respect:

“Professor McGonagall, no need. As agreed beforehand, once the list is in Professor Ilona's hands, it cannot be changed! This is a rule we Hufflepuffs ourselves set, and we should naturally abide by it, lest someone loses and then refuses to admit defeat!”

As Green spoke, he rolled his eyes at Welling, making Welling grit his teeth in anger, but he had no choice but to turn his gaze to his own headmaster, Professor Snape.

But Snape didn't see Welling's gaze at all; at that moment, Snape was busy exchanging glances with Dumbledore.

Snape: Dumbledore, is Wentworth so confident that his Charms skill has surpassed that of a fifth-year student? Impossible! Even if he has mastered Charms, he's only 11 years old; he doesn't have that much magic power!

Dumbledore: Why are you looking at me? How should I know?

Snape: Why don't you use Legilimency to see for yourself?