Hogwarts: Oh no, I've become Voldemort!

“Who knows? Maybe it’s for practicing on the Animagus.” Cyrus shrugged. Clearly, this was a very perfunctory answer, because Cyrus couldn’t possibly have a pupa of the Ghost-faced Moth. Moreover, it wasn’t even his own body.

“You better be!” Snape said angrily.

For almost the entire lesson, Cyrus faced Snape's provocations, but he managed to overcome them all. In the end, Snape deducted five points from Gryffindor's grade, citing that Cyrus hadn't even said get out of class was over yet and he was already restless in his seat.

“He doesn’t like you…” Luna’s unique voice, as if her soul had been ripped out, came through.

Cyrus turned his head and saw a girl with bulging eyes and strange attire.

“Obviously,” Cyrus said.

How could he possibly beg for the affections of a middle-aged teacher he had recently persecuted? Besides, it was common knowledge that Snape's only love interest was Lily.

“You look strange, but much better than before.” Luna tossed her hair lightly and skipped away like an elf.

Cyrus was amazed by the other's incredible intuition.

He parted ways with his Ravenclaw classmates on the eighth floor, and as he walked through the lobby, he found a large crowd gathered at the notice board in the common room.

"What's going on here?"

"They want to start a dueling club."

"Tonight is the first gathering."

Fred and George, the two good older brothers, specifically stepped forward to explain to their sister, Ginny.

“I have a plan—” Fred said excitedly, putting his arm around his sister’s shoulder more enthusiastically than ever before. “Remember the last time you cast a spell on Marcus at the stadium?”

"What? Are you worried he'll retaliate against me?"

“If he had any shame, he wouldn’t have done that,” Fred said. “But whether he’ll send other second- or third-year Slytherin students to deal with you is another question.”

“But we both think you shouldn’t be afraid, right?” George and Fred looked at him with affirmation.

“Of course I’m not afraid. He can send Snape himself if he wants.” Cyrus didn’t take it to heart at all.

"That's right! If you were this confident in front of Harry, he would definitely fall in love with you!"

Cyrus just rolled his eyes, but neither of the brothers took it to heart.

Fred continued, "We see this as an opportunity. The Slytherin team has been giving us trouble these days. It's rare to have a chance for a fair fight."

"So what? What do you want me to do?"

"Find the lower-year students in Slytherin—"

“It would be even better if it were Draco Malfoy!” George added. “Don’t forget his dad gave us a hard time during the summer.”

"—Give them a good beating!" the two said in unison, their voices firm and resolute.

“If they’re planning to cause trouble, then of course I’ll do it,” Cyrus nodded.

Having probably heard their commotion, Percy emerged from the crowd, shielding Cyrus behind him like a thief, and looked warily at Fred and George: "What are you two talking about with Ginny?"

"It's nothing." The twins exchanged a glance, their lips curving upwards. "We're just feeling sorry for the Slytherin students who are in trouble!"

“Whatever you’re up to, I advise you not to lead Ginny astray!” Percy warned. “Or I’ll tell Mom!”

With that, Percy dragged Cyrus away from the two troublemakers.

Fred and George exchanged bewildered glances, then simultaneously put on exaggerated, comical, and deeply hurt expressions: "Good heavens! He actually thinks we're the ones who corrupt Ginny!"

“Ginny doesn’t need us to lead her astray!” George chimed in.

The implication is that Ginny is a "genius" in herself; she dared to cast a spell on a seventh-grader in her first year—who else could do that? Another implication is that they weren't the ones who corrupted Ginny; someone else was. They had already noticed that Ginny had been frequently sharing the toilets with Harry and the others lately.

Four people together—it's not just exciting, it's downright thrilling!

“Ignore them,” Percy said, patting Cyrus on the shoulder. “You’re different from them, Ginny!”

His tone was filled with immense anticipation.

“Almost all the professors have praised you, saying you’ve done exceptionally well. Hermione also told me you’re very studious. That’s a good thing!” Percy said. He automatically ignored Snape, because Snape never praised anyone, let alone Gryffindor.

“If things continue like this, you can become a prefect in fifth grade, just like me, get all the OWL certificates, and after seventh grade, we can strive to become student council president, and then after graduation, enter the Ministry of Magic and seek a good position,” Percy said excitedly.

The position of student council president at Hogwarts carries considerable weight.

As the only magic school in Britain, Percy became Barty Crouch's assistant almost immediately after graduation. While other factors played a role, there was no doubt that if you were aiming for a promising job at the Ministry of Magic, being the student council president would pave a smooth path for you.

"Perhaps you think all of this is too far off, but I think you should start planning early! First, I suggest you take all elective subjects in your third year. I can't go into the specific reasons, but I hope you can do it. Although it will be a bit tiring, you know, many people actually look down on families like ours..."

Percy paused, swallowed his words, and then patted Cyrus hard on the back: "I shouldn't have said this to you, but anyway, do your best, okay? Don't be like Fred and George, they're not good role models. And don't be like Ron, he's too playful and has no goals, he'll never know what he's doing."

My darlings, following a novel closely is really important for your reading experience. Please don't let it sit unfinished for too long, or it'll easily die. Thank you so much, love you all!

Chapter 33 Duel Club

At 8 p.m., Cyrus and Harry returned to the Great Hall together.

The auditorium had completely transformed. The long dining tables had vanished, replaced by a gilded stage along one wall, illuminated by hundreds of floating candles. The ceiling had once again turned as black as velvet. Almost the entire school had arrived, packed tightly together, each holding their own wand and beaming with excitement.

The four of them squeezed into the crowd, taking advantage of their small size. Hermione said with difficulty, "I wonder who will teach us. I heard that Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young. Maybe it will be him."

“Whoever it is, as long as it’s not—” Harry hadn’t finished speaking when he saw two people he least wanted to see walk onto the stage. One was the radiant Lockhart in his crimson robes, and the other was Snape with a somber expression. Snape was a stark contrast to Lockhart, who wore his ever-present black robes.

Harry's unfinished words turned into a mournful groan.

Hermione was quite pleased; she still believed Lockhart was just as great as he was described in his books!

As for his foolish behavior, it was all overlooked under Lockhart's dazzling appearance.

It's hard to imagine Hermione acting so irrationally; Lockhart alone has completely captivated her. Indeed, even in the wizarding world, good looks are a power comparable to a potion. Otherwise, Tom Riddle wouldn't have been so successful.

He's just a scumbag who uses his good looks to deceive young girls, rich women, married men, and so on.

He even fooled female ghosts!

condemn!

Must be condemned!

What? This is what I look like now?

That's fine.

"Come closer, come closer! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? That's great!" Lockhart felt the enthusiastic support of hundreds of female students and became even more excited, putting on a show with all his might.

"That's right, Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to start this little dueling club to train you all thoroughly in case you need to defend yourselves one day, using the methods I have used countless times—for details, please see my published works."

“Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape,” Lockhart said, grinning broadly. “He told me he knows a thing or two about dueling, and he generously agreed to give me a little demonstration before class. I told him I didn’t want you little rascals to worry—after I’m done demonstrating, I’ll return your Potions teacher to you unharmed, so don’t be afraid!”

"Wouldn't it be great if they fought to the death?" Ron whispered in Harry's ear.

"Come on, Lockhart probably couldn't even withstand one move from Snape," Cyrus said, shaking his head. "I've heard that Snape is the most powerful of the four heads of the house."

If he could unleash his dark magic freely, Snape would indeed be more powerful than the other three heads of the house. His talent was something even Voldemort admired; after all, he was a genius who had developed several types of magic during his school years.

Moreover, according to Sirius Black, Snape knew more about curses and evil spells when he was eleven years old than most seventh-year students did.

Harry completely agreed with Cyrus's statement because he saw Snape's upper lip curl up, revealing a terrifying look—like a cat playfully toying with a mouse—and he didn't understand why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had looked at him like that, he would have already turned and run in the opposite direction as fast as he could.

“It’s pathetic that some people are even fooled by their own lies,” Cyrus whispered in Harry’s ear.

Ron looked at him in surprise.

"Aren't you shy now?"

Cyrus ignored him.

Lockhart and Snape then turned to face each other and bowed. Lockhart made a series of hand gestures, while Snape merely shook his head impatiently. Then, they held their wands like arrows to their chests.

The students fell silent, watching the scene with bated breath. They were like a group of onlookers watching two masters clash at the Forbidden City, afraid that even the slightest noise would disturb the two masters.

“As you can see, we hold our wands in the usual dueling stance,” Lockhart said to the quiet crowd. “On the count of three, we will cast our first spell. Of course, neither of us will take the other’s life.”

“I wouldn’t dare bet on that.” Snape grinned, revealing his teeth.

The two of them simultaneously raised their wands sharply over their shoulders.

"one two Three--"

Snape uttered the incantation with lightning speed:

"Except your weapons!"

Suddenly, a blinding red light flashed, and Lockhart was knocked off his feet. He flew backward off the stage, crashed into the wall, and then slid down, curling up on the floor. He was almost completely stunned.

Didn't we agree that you were just a potion maker?

Why is it so strong?

Malfoy and several other Slytherin students applauded and cheered.

Hermione jumped up and down on tiptoe. "Do you think he's alright?" she screamed, covering her mouth with her fingers.

"Who cares!" Harry and Ron said at the same time.

Lockhart staggered to his feet, his hat falling off, his wavy curls standing on end.

Seeing the suspicious looks from the young wizards, Lockhart realized he had to regain control and cover up his embarrassing mistake. So he rushed back to the stage, the lingering power of the spell making him dizzy and unsteady on his feet.

“Well, everyone sees that! It’s a disarming spell—as you can see, I’ve lost my wand—ah, thank you, Miss Brown.”

He turned to Snape: "Yes, Professor Snape, demonstrating this move to them is a brilliant idea. But please don't take offense, your intention to pull this off was too obvious. If I wanted to stop you, it would have been effortless. I think, to broaden their horizons, we should let them see it..."