Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 217 Severus Snape vs. Gilderoy Lockhart

Chapter 217 Severus Snape vs. Gilderoy Lockhart
At 8 p.m., almost all the students in the school came to the auditorium.

The long dining table disappeared, and a gilded stage illuminated by hundreds of floating candles appeared along one wall.

The ceiling turned as black as velvet once again, and even the spacious auditorium felt crowded due to the large number of people attending the club.

Everyone present held their own wands, and they all looked excited.

Hermione was no exception; she held tightly to Sherlock, following him, Harry, and Ron as they squeezed into the chattering crowd.

"I'm really curious, I wonder who will teach us?"

"Qiu told me that Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young, so maybe he's the one who taught us."

“Dear Harry, Professor Flitwick is indeed the dueling champion, but this time we are taught by someone else.”

"Who cares who he is, as long as it's not—I'll curse him to hell!"

Ron watched in shock as Gilderoy Lockhart strode onto the stage.

Today he wore a purple-red robe, which, combined with his handsome face, made him look exceptionally radiant.

"Come closer! Come closer! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? That's great!"

Lockhart stood in the center of the stage, cast an amplification spell on himself, and then continued:
"The truth is that Professor Dumbledore allowed me to start this little dueling club before he left the school."

The aim is to train everyone thoroughly so that one day you may need to defend yourselves and use the methods I have used countless times to protect yourselves.

For more details on this, please refer to my published works.

"I knew it!"

Ron couldn't help but touch his face, revealing a pained expression.

"Quiet!"

Seeing Ron's expression, Hermione glared at him in annoyance.

"Next, let me introduce my assistant for this occasion. He is..."

"It seems that Professor Lockhart's assistant must be Professor Flitwick."

Harry couldn't help but say to his friends beside him.

Then Lockhart said, "...Professor Snape!"

Who?
Everyone present watched in astonishment as Professor Snape, dressed in a black robe, slowly walked onto the stage.

When he stood next to Professor Lockhart, the latter appeared even more handsome and radiant.

"Why him?"

Harry said he couldn't understand.

It wasn't just him who couldn't understand it; almost no one expected Snape to do such a thing.

After all, given his personality, he shouldn't be interested in this kind of thing.

"Sherlock, you must be able to see why Professor Snape would do such a thing, right?"

“It’s obvious,” Sherlock said, glancing at Snape, who was pursing his lips. “He’s looking for a legitimate opportunity to teach Lockhart a lesson.”

"My God!"

Hermione covered her mouth in shock upon hearing this.

Ron, however, beamed with delight and whispered in Harry's ear, "Wouldn't it be great if they fought to the death?"

Harry's dislike for Lockhart wasn't as deep as Ron's, so upon hearing this, he could only make a helpless shrug.

"First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professor Snape!"

Lockhart glanced around, and when he realized everyone was staring at him, a satisfied smile spread across his face, his eight teeth gleaming.
"Because he told me that he himself knew a little about dueling."

Not only that, he also generously agreed to help me give a small demonstration before the formal class.

Shall we give him a round of applause?

Amidst enthusiastic applause, Lockhart became even more radiant. "Then, let me explain the rules of wizard duels to you all..."

"Professor Lockhart."

Snape suddenly spoke, interrupting Lockhart.

"May we begin?"

Snape asked the question almost through gritted teeth.

Clearly, he deeply resented Lockhart's excessively long foreplay.

Just as Sherlock deduced, the reason he agreed to Lockhart's job was so that he could openly teach the pretentious fellow a lesson.

"Haha, don't worry, my dear Professor Snape, I don't want these little guys to worry about you!"

He winked at Snape as he spoke.

Snape: (°皿°)︻━╤デ╦︻=
If it weren't for his status, Snape would have loved to unleash a spell on Lockhart right then and there.

However, Lockhart remained completely oblivious and continued his teasing:

"Don't be afraid, everyone. After Professor Snape and I finish demonstrating, we will return your Potions Master to you safe and sound!"

The students present screamed, especially the little witch, which shows how popular Professor Lockhart is.

This made Snape's face even more gloomy.

Fortunately, Lockhart finally turned to him the next moment.

In this way, the two people are now facing each other.

Lockhart bowed to Snape, and not only that, he made a lot of fancy movements with his hands.

Snape just shook his head impatiently.

"My goodness, Professor Lockhart is such a gentleman, compared to Professor Snape..."

"Exactly! Professor Snape's bow wasn't even a nod!"

"You have absolutely no manners!"

Snape cast a sinister glance, and the young wizards who had been mocking him immediately fell silent.

The next moment, he and Lockhart held their wands up to their chests like arrows.

"As you can see, we're holding our wands in the standard dueling stance." Even then, Lockhart hadn't forgotten his duty as commentator, addressing the silent crowd as he assumed the stance:
"When we count to three, we will cast the first spell—of course, neither of us will take the other's life."

At the same time, Snape had already revealed his white teeth.

Sherlock's lips curled slightly at the sight.

That's why he came to join the Duel Club.

He was very interested in the true strength of Snape and Lockhart.

"One—two—"

At Lockhart's voice, he and Snape simultaneously raised their wands high above their shoulders.

"three--!"

Almost at the same time Lockhart shouted three, Snape yelled:
"Except your weapons!"

A dazzling red light shot out from the tip of his wand and arrived in front of Lockhart almost in the blink of an eye.

Clearly, Professor Snape understood the importance of striking first.

However, just as the spell was about to strike Lockhart, it seemed to bump into something and deflected to the side.

All the young wizards could clearly see that, in that instant, a red shield flashed and disappeared in front of Lockhart.

"Ironclad Spell!"

Neville couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

He was all too familiar with this scene.

He was only spared Lockhart's sleeping spell thanks to Hannah's help.

Later, when Lockhart cast the Shattering Curse, Lockhart himself also successfully cast the same spell under pressure.

However, he never succeeded again after that.

But seeing Lockhart do it so effortlessly, Neville couldn't help but show admiration.

Even though he's a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, once he makes a move, it's truly extraordinary.

After Snape's turn, Lockhart retaliated by casting a disarming spell as well.

With a shout of "Expelliarmus!", Snape dodged the spell with agile movement.

At the same time, it also countered with a disarming spell.

The two then began to fight back and forth.

To everyone's disappointment, the only spell the two used was the Disarming Spell.

Lockhart occasionally uses defensive spells such as the Ironclad Charm and the All-Protecting Charm, while Snape is a weapon that eliminates you from beginning to end.

Judging solely from his casting posture, Lockhart's is more elegant, as if he were performing rather than dueling.

Even so, the two fought to a standstill.

"Okay, everyone saw that!"

After blocking Snape's disarming spell once again, Lockhart did not retaliate again, but stopped and said to the others:

"This is the Disarming Charm, the most basic and also the most practical spell!"
Actually, I could defeat Professor Snape without breaking a sweat.

You should know that there are very few people in this world who can fight me to a draw.

However, in order to broaden your horizons, I showed you such a spectacular wizard duel..."

"Professor Lockhart!"

Because the battle was turn-based, Snape put away his wand after Lockhart stopped fighting.

But when he heard him start rambling again, he couldn't hold back any longer and interrupted him directly:

"I think we shouldn't waste any more time now."

Noticing Professor Snape's murderous aura, Lockhart felt somewhat embarrassed and coughed twice:

"That concludes the demonstration! Now I will come to you and divide you into pairs—Professor Snape, please help me..."

Ron said irritably, "If he weren't so exaggerated, I would have cheered him on just now."

"Didn't you hear what he said? He only fought Professor Snape to a draw so that we could broaden our horizons..."

"You believe him? You'd be better off believing I'm Merlin!"

"Being able to fight Snape to a draw is already quite impressive."

Sherlock gave an objective assessment: "Although he only used the Disarming Charm, Professor Snape's dueling skills were in no way inferior to those of a true dueling master."

"That's it!"

Hermione nodded repeatedly; Sherlock certainly knew his stuff.

Ron is just a wizard chess player; he doesn't know anything about wizard duels.

There is nothing more to say next.

Lockhart and Snape moved through the crowd, grouping the young wizards.

Surprisingly, the two of them immediately headed in Harry's direction.

"Professor Snape, what are you trying to do?"

"Professor Lockhart, shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?"

Looking at Harry standing right next to Sherlock, Snape sneered, "I think the dream team of the Lion King and the Savior should be broken up."

“Is it really necessary?” Lockhart frowned. “I think they’re fine together.”

At this moment, Harry's affection for Lockhart reached its peak.

Even Ron's gaze towards Lockhart softened.