Hogwarts: My name is the Unforgivable Curse...

Chapter 113 Duel Club

Two days later, in the evening, when Avada returned to the common room from the library, rubbing his temples, he suddenly saw a large group of people gathered around the bulletin board, excitedly discussing something around a piece of parchment that had just been nailed up.

"What's going on?"

Avada's first thought was that Dumbledore had finally caught the culprit behind the coma using the Time-Turner: "Is the matter completely resolved? Or rather, has the potion for a full recovery been completed ahead of schedule?"

"Neither, but it's still pretty good news!"

Cedric was the first to notice Avada Kedavra, so he pushed his way through the crowd, pointed at the parchment, and said, "To improve students' self-defense skills and awareness of danger, the school plans to start a dueling club, with the first gathering tonight!"

"It's probably due to the recent coma incident. Although it doesn't seem very useful, it's still good to learn more dueling skills," said a Hufflepuff who was watching from the sidelines.

Avada pursed his lips and went over to look at the announcement—as expected, it didn't mention which professors were in charge of on-site guidance.

That makes sense. If the students knew that Gilderoy Lockhart, a professor whose reputation has become increasingly outrageous, was hosting the Duel Club, the event would most likely turn into a Lockhart fan meeting...

"So, are you going or not?"

Avada hesitated for a moment. While he wouldn't learn much from the dueling club, and his injuries didn't yet allow for intense combat—watching some fun seemed like a way to keep his spirits up?

Furthermore, the Duel Club can be considered a substitute for Defense Against the Dark Arts (DFD) class. This substitute has become even more important after Lockhart turned DFD into his personal stage. Although the knowledge from DFD is somewhat simplistic for Avada Kedavra, sparring with classmates using wands is still a lot of fun. The third-year students are also quite disciplined, so there's no need to worry about injuries from intense battles.

Not to mention the scene where Harry first showed Parseltongue—now there's no more talk of the Slytherin heir causing trouble, I wonder what others will think about this?

……

So, at eight o'clock in the evening, Avada arrived at the auditorium on time with the crowd.

The four long dining tables had vanished, replaced by a gilded stage illuminated by hundreds of floating candles. The ceiling had once again turned velvety black, and the previously bright stars had dimmed in the candlelight.

At least half of the students in the school had arrived, crowding together, each one immediately pulling out their wand, their faces full of anticipation and excitement, until…

"Everyone, come closer! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? That's great!"

A nightmarish sound suddenly rang out, immediately eliciting cheers, interspersed with a few wails of agony—

"I knew it! An event like the Duel Club, which is clearly related to Defense Against the Dark Arts, would naturally be hosted by the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"

"...Is it too late to leave now?"

"Unless you want to argue with your girlfriend... By the way, why are there still so many people idolizing him these days?"

Gilderoy Lockhart walked onto the stage radiantly, dressed in a crimson robe, looking dazzling. The person beside him was even more surprising—Severus Snape, still wearing his usual bat-like black robe.

Lockhart waved for silence, then shouted, "Here's the thing: Professor Dumbledore has permitted me to open this little dueling club to train you all properly in this tense atmosphere and to teach you some techniques that might come in handy in the future. You will be protecting yourselves in the ways I have used countless times—for details, please see my published works…"

"Now, let me introduce my assistant for today, Professor Snape."

Lockhart grinned, revealing an eight-tooth smile. "He told me that to showcase the diversity of dueling styles, I should consider inviting more professors to participate in the teaching. He also generously agreed to help me with a small demonstration before class—don't worry, after I'm done demonstrating, I'll return your Potions teachers to you unharmed, so don't be afraid!"

"Wouldn't it be great if they fought to the death?" Avada heard someone mutter.

"And if the club's operations go smoothly,"

Lockhart then said loudly, "Perhaps I could also consider inviting Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, or even Headmaster Dumbledore himself to demonstrate more techniques and styles..."

"That's quite profitable; this trip was definitely worthwhile."

Avada raised an eyebrow, thinking, 'But this guy really knows how to create hype. He knows he's a complete idiot, so he invites those truly powerful professors to ride on their coattails…'

"Now, Professor Snape and I will demonstrate a standard duel..."

Lockhart and Snape walked a short distance apart, then Lockhart turned to face each other and gave each other a slight bow. And, perhaps it was just his imagination, Avada saw a strange smile creep onto Snape's lips…

Then they held their wands up to their chests like arrows and assumed their stances—Lockhart used the most standard sword-wielding stance, while Snape was quite different: he raised his right hand, holding the wand, above his head with his elbow bent and the tip of the wand pointing forward, while his free left hand was stretched out horizontally forward.

Avada's pupils contracted: This stance was usually reserved for extremely skilled and aggressive fighters. His outstretched left hand indicated his confidence in using wandless spellcasting to block the initial attack, while the rear-mounted wand provided ample room for large-scale swings, unleashing powerful magic…

And then there's Snape's strange smile...

"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'll cast our first spell. Of course, neither of us will take the other's life..."

"one two three--"

"Disarm you!"

A dazzling red light shot out from Snape's wand, which he held high above his head, and almost instantly struck Lockhart. The latter had no chance to react; he took the full force of the spell and was sent flying backward off the stage, crashing into the wall before slowly sliding down...

With Professor Snape's power, he could have easily sent Lockhart away with a mere flick of his wand and a flash of red light. But instead, he not only took the stance seriously but also recited the spell loudly and clearly... He was so gentle.

"No doubt about it."

Below the stands, many students nodded in agreement—although Snape's reputation wasn't great, his strength was undeniable, as evidenced by how he could easily resolve incidents caused by students with a wave of his wand or even a snap of his fingers during class. And Lockhart…

All I can say is that after a month, anyone with even a slightly thinner idol filter can see what level this guy is at.

"Did everyone see that?" Lockhart slowly got up and re-entered the stage, but his expression was quite pleased, as if he had knocked Snape away with a disarming charm: "Professor Snape just demonstrated a standard disarming charm—a great spell, Severus. But don't take offense, your intention to do that was too obvious. I could have stopped or even taken you down with ease..."

"Then I wouldn't mind showing the students a complete duel."

Snape chuckled coldly and spoke in a nonchalant tone, but the murderous intent in his eyes betrayed his true intentions.

"Well, I think we've shown enough. Now it's time to give the stage to the students..."

Lockhart involuntarily took a step back, only to find Snape still gripping his wand without flinching, showing no sign of giving up. This made him panic slightly: "Ah, right! I mean... perhaps our level is too advanced for the students, it might make them overly ambitious!"

"I think we should find a group of excellent students to demonstrate a duel that is both exciting and easy to understand. What do you say, Severus...?"

"Mr. Ken! Mr. Shafik! May you both come up to the platform?"

"???"

(End of this chapter)