A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 278 Are you forcing me to kill you there?

In December, another school attack occurred.

Heloise of Gryffindor became one of the unfortunate victims.

Ever since the first two were attacked, she has been listless and unsteady on her feet, even more so than Luna.

William would occasionally run into this little girl and feel a pang of pity; her face was disfigured, and she also had some mental problems.

How pitiful.

In this madness, Eloise skipped a divination class on Wednesday.

When they found her, she was lying outside the bathroom of the Myrtle.

Professor Trelawney strutted around arrogantly, claiming that she had seen this scene with her divine eye long ago, but no one believed her!

McClargan immediately asked anxiously if Harry Potter had done it.

Trelawney gave him a mysterious smile, confirming his guess.

However, Cho questioned why Harry's name did not contain the letter L.

Trelawney glared at Cho and mocked her for not possessing the qualities required to learn the noble art of divination.

When the story spread, Harry was deeply moved and excitedly wiped his nose with Ron's sleeve.

Qiu fought against the school professors for him... If this isn't love, then what is?!

Okay, Cho simply doesn't like Trelawney and is just picking fights all the time; Harry is just a tool for her.

But Harry didn't think so. He vowed to clear his name and became even more convinced that Malfoy was behind it.

Because Malfoy's name contains an "L".

An anti-Harry alliance quickly formed at the school; whenever Harry was seen, people would keep their distance and point at him.

Akali's Mystery Shop products are hot again.

At the twins' suggestion, William worked through the night to produce a batch of simple alchemical weapons.

For example, the anti-curse hat is enchanted with an iron armor curse, so that if someone casts a curse, the curse will be reflected back.

There are also various anti-curse cloaks and anti-curse gloves, which are snapped up by students as long as they can provide some protection.

William and his group made a quick buck.

This presents a new business opportunity for Akali's Mystery Shop; they can improve the product and promote it in Diagon Alley.

After all, anti-curse hats are not very technologically advanced and are extremely easy to counterfeit.

In fact, this is just one of the twins' many little inspirations; they also have a great idea for a book.

In this atmosphere, one day in December, a piece of parchment was posted on the bulletin board in the Ravenclaw common room foyer:

The academy is going to hold a dueling club in the auditorium!

"Could it be our Professor Flitwick? I heard that the Dean was a fighting champion when he was young," William's roommate Bradley said excitedly.

William shook his head: "It shouldn't be Professor Flitwick. I discussed a few spells with him yesterday, and he didn't mention this at all."

Such a grand and flashy display, I suspect it's Lockhart.

"No way?"

Hearing William say this, the students watching were somewhat disappointed, as Lockhart's reputation in Ravenclaw was already terrible.

At 8 p.m., everyone arrived at the auditorium on time.

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

The ceiling turned as black as velvet once again, and almost all the students in the school came, each holding their own magic wand, their faces full of excitement.

Some students had already started sparring with their wands, and after a few spells, quite a few people fell off the stage.

"If it were a knife down there, he'd be dead already!" Lockhart walked onto the stage and addressed the students earnestly, "That's not how you fight!"

Snape followed Lockhart, wearing black clothes that hadn't been washed in six months, a cold smile playing on his lips.

Lockhart had originally suggested that he and Professor Flitwick serve as mentors, but Snape took the initiative to take over.

He'd wanted to teach Lockhart a lesson for a long time, but hadn't found the opportunity!

Lockhart waved for everyone to be quiet, then shouted, "Come closer! Come closer! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Great!"

"That's right. Professor Dumbledore has allowed me to start a dueling club to train everyone 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 little helper, Professor Snape," Lockhart said, grinning. "He told me that he knows a little about dueling and wants to have a practical exchange with me."

Snape sneered, and without saying a word, pulled out his wand.

Lockhart bowed, making a series of fancy hand gestures as he deliberately showed off, almost dropping his wand.

Such flashy moves are absolutely taboo in combat. Professor Flitwick's first lesson to William was: Hold your wand steady!

Sure enough, a dazzling red light flashed in mid-air the next second, and Lockhart was suddenly thrown backward off the stage, crashing into the wall, then sliding down and curling up on the floor.

Hermione rolled her eyes and said to William, "That's it...that's it? I should have known better than to come. We could have trained in the Room of Requirement."

William crossed his arms and nodded listlessly.

"Training what?" Annie stared at the two of them with hostility.

"Where have you two been? You disappear every night! I've searched the campus several times, but I haven't found you!"

William patted Anne's head to calm her down, but the girl clung to her brother's arm and wouldn't let go.

William was in a period of rapid growth and was much taller than his peers, while Anne was two years younger than him and much shorter.

He gently raised his arm, and the girl was hanging there comically.

Hermione burst out laughing, which Annie found particularly grating. She glared at her and snapped, "What are you laughing at!"

Hermione made a face and retorted sharply, "I'm not telling you!"

William sighed, feeling a terrible headache.

Or should the two of them go on stage and fight?

Whoever loses must listen to the winner.

Professor Lockhart must have hurt his back. He lay on the ground for several seconds before he steadied himself and staggered to his feet.

His hat fell off, and his wavy curls stood up straight.

"The floor is so slippery..." Lockhart made up the worst excuse.

"The stage is so small." This was his second excuse.

Noticing everyone's gaze, he coughed twice more.

"Alright, everyone saw that! It's a disarming spell. But Professor Snape, please don't take offense at what I'm saying, your intention in doing that was quite obvious."

If I wanted to stop you, it would be effortless. I think, to broaden the students' horizons, we should let them see…”

Snape, his face contorted with rage, raised his wand again. Lockhart quickly said, "The demonstration is over! Now I will come to you and divide you into pairs..."

"Wait!" Professor Snape interrupted. "The game is over. Dumbledore wants his students to witness a real duel, Stark... I think you wouldn't mind?"

Snape gave a malicious smile and then beckoned with his hand.

William smiled too.

During the time loop, he had clashed with Professor Snape many times and knew the professor inside and out, while the professor knew nothing about him.

To paraphrase Luo Wen: "Are you forcing me to kill you there?"

……

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(End of this chapter)