Seeing Percy miss, the Little Wizards couldn't believe their eyes.
"Percy actually failed?!"
"That shouldn't be. He successfully cast a corporeal Patronus Charm in the first Duelling Club. He must have been too careless."
"I think so too. He's so powerful; there's no way he can't handle such a weak Dementor."
They actually called a Dementor weak?
The Little Wizards hadn't realized that even the scrawniest Dementor would absorb happy emotions.
And happy emotions are the foundation for casting a Patronus Charm.
When facing a Dementor directly, it's very difficult to successfully cast a Patronus Charm without repeated training.
Seeing that the students hadn't recognized the seriousness of the problem, Sebastian asked with a smile,
"Where is the second brave soul to challenge the Dementor?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a seventh-year Ravenclaw student confidently stepped forward and bravely walked in front of the Dementor.
"Let me try, Professor."
Sebastian nodded slightly, waved his hand, and motioned for him to begin.
However, unexpectedly, as soon as this Ravenclaw raised his wand, his face began to turn pale.
The Dementor's icy aura swept over him like an invisible tide, instantly devouring all his happiness and courage.
Before he could even finish the spell, he collapsed weakly to the ground, completely unable to cast a Patronus Charm.
He lasted even less time than Percy!
The expressions on the Little Wizards' faces gradually shifted from shock to solemnity. They looked at each other, no longer as relaxed and confident as before.
The students began to feel uneasy. Although some thought that the Ravenclaw might have cast the spell too slowly, two consecutive failures made them realize that the problem was not as simple as they had imagined.
What was worse, the next students to challenge, whether from seventh year, sixth year, or even the fifth-year star student Cedric, and the humorous Weasley twins, all failed.
Looking at the senior students resting and eating chocolate, the remaining students completely panicked.
"What on earth is going on?"
"Are Dementors that terrifying?"
"We've practiced for so long, why isn't the Patronus Charm working in a real fight?"
This feeling of powerlessness spread among the students like a plague. Ron looked at his brothers and groaned in pain,
"Fred and they all failed. What were my previous boasts? A joke?!"
Malfoy swallowed. He was in no mood to bicker with Ron now.
The cruel reality made him realize that he had been too arrogant before; even the weakest Dementor was not something these rookies could easily handle.
The commotion here also alerted the students practicing magic elsewhere in the Duelling Club.
They stopped practicing their magic and turned their attention to this corner.
The Professors did not stop them. They had already discovered that ever since the students began learning the Patronus Charm, they had all become incredibly arrogant.
This was good too, let these Little Wizards know the power of Dementors, lest they all get too big for their britches.
Unlike the disheartened students, the Dementor was extremely happy now, muttering incessantly.
"So many people lining up to deliver meals, they're so enthusiastic."
"So happy, I haven't eaten this much in a long time."
"But I'm a bit full, it's truly a sweet burden."
"Boss, can you give me some time to exercise and digest a bit?"
Hearing the Dementor's muttering, Sebastian ignored it. Instead, he looked around, his gaze serious as he scanned every student.
"Do not underestimate Dementors. They became the guards of Azkaban, deterring all vicious Dark Wizards, by their ability to absorb happiness and leave despair."
"What you need to practice is, when facing a Dementor directly, desperately mobilize all your happy and joyful emotions to cast a Patronus Charm."
"Students who failed, recall how it felt to face the Dementor, then think about what to do next time."
"The challenge continues."
The Little Wizards glanced at each other, their eyes filled with fear and hesitation.
For a moment, the surroundings were extremely quiet. No one dared to step forward; no one wanted to be the next failure.
Harry gritted his teeth, just about to raise his hand to volunteer, when he heard a firm voice beside him.
"Professor, I'd like to try."
Seeing Neville walk out from the crowd, the students immediately burst into an uproar.
"Longbottom? This is truly unexpected; I didn't think he'd be the first to step forward."
"As expected of Gryffindor, so courageous."
"This isn't about courage. All those who challenged just now, who wasn't courageous? They all failed."
Ron's face was filled with disbelief as he whispered, "Is he crazy? Isn't he afraid of getting hurt?"
Malfoy nudged Ron: "Hey, Weasley, look at Longbottom. Isn't he better than you?"
"You say that as if you dare to go up now," Ron rolled his eyes, saying testily.
"I'm a Slytherin, of course I'll observe a bit more before going up to challenge."
"Tsk, first time I've heard someone make cowardice sound so good."
The Little Wizards discussed animatedly, but Neville's face showed no trace of wavering.
He wasn't trying to prove his bravery, nor was he trying to win others' praise. It was because he had a clear goal in his heart—to save his parents.
He didn't want his parents to stay in St. Mungo's forever, to remain in bed, to live in darkness.
He wanted to learn the advanced use of the Patronus Charm to rescue his parents from the darkness.
To achieve this goal, the first step was to defeat the Dementor in front of him.
Neville came before the Dementor, gripping his wand tightly, his face showing no fear.
He closed his eyes, trying hard to recall his happiest moments, then silently chanted in his heart.
"magic is the power of belief."
"I believe I will definitely learn the advanced use of the Patronus Charm to save my mom and dad."
Feeling the firm resolve emanating from Neville, Sebastian nodded slightly and calmly gave the command: "Begin."
Neville took a deep breath, opened his eyes, raised his wand high, his voice firm and powerful.
"Expecto Patronum!"
Again!
The Dementor felt helpless.
It really was a bit full...
However, even if it was full, it had to grit its teeth and persevere.
It wouldn't be good if the boss thought it was slacking off and fired it.
Thinking this, it adopted a serious work attitude and sucked hard at Neville.
To its surprise, a silver-white hedgehog suddenly shot out, directly pinning it against the wall, even making it spit out the delicious things it had eaten earlier.
Feeling the sharp pain, the Dementor couldn't help but cry out.
"I #%..."
...