This left Draco speechless. Well, their perspectives were completely different. Wasn't it natural to get injured in a duel? Once on the stage, the only thing that mattered was winning or losing.
Thinking this, the two on stage turned around, wands held vertically before their chests.
Howl stood between the two, clearing the arena for them.
"When the lightning strikes, the duel begins," he instructed, then raised his hand high.
"Three"
"Two"
"One"
With a boom, their tense nerves were released at that moment. Harry quickly aimed his wand at Marcus.
"Petrificus Totalus—"
The spell immediately flew towards Flint. He was also rapidly chanting a spell but was interrupted at this moment and had to dodge to the side.
Then…
"Incendio—"
Harry pointed his wand at the ground, then sharply raised it towards Marcus's dodging direction, just like an upward sword thrust.
And the flames, following this trajectory, swept towards Marcus.
Ever since the last time Harry was forced to use Fiendfyre to deal with Mandrakes, he had been seeking more advanced Fiendfyre spells and their derivatives.
He had even practiced the higher-level spell "God of Fire's Path," although he never succeeded in the end, he accumulated a lot of experience with Fiendfyre spells during that time.
He tried to turn it into a Fiendfyre Dragon like Professor Flitwick's, but found it difficult, so he could only condense it into a fireball that shot straight forward, like a blazing serpent striking out!
Then, Snape's incantation, like a reprimand, rang out.
"Finite Incantatem—"
The blazing serpent was quickly covered and extinguished. The last wisp of flame touched Marcus's pale face, his hair recoiling backward, emitting a burnt protein smell.
"How boring…"
Although he grumbled this in his heart, Harry still had to stand up and bow to Marcus, formally signifying the end of the duel.
The Little Wizards below the stage watched the battle, surprised yet also bored.
"Flint, you're too weak." Someone below said, and Flint turned his head to see it came from a group of Gryffindor students.
"Flint, is it fun to make a fool of yourself?"
With a boom, a lightning bolt exploded again, and Howl's gaze was fixed on the Gryffindor side.
Just because Flint couldn't find the person who spoke didn't mean he couldn't.
Perhaps to some Professors, inter-House rivalry was already commonplace, with some even turning a blind eye.
He himself was actually too lazy to bother with it.
But that didn't mean this rivalry could be brought onto his stage so casually.
"Flint and Potter, five points each.
I think the duel that the two Slytherins presented to us, regardless of who wins or loses, deserves applause." His voice echoed faintly through the Great Hall.
Soon, applause broke out. Though not as enthusiastic as before, it nonetheless eased the atmosphere.
"Does anyone else want to try? Shouting from below doesn't count for much." As he spoke, Howl's eyes fell on the few people who had been shouting from below the stage.
Meeting his gaze, those few quickly backed down, but they were indeed Gryffindors, and even under Howl's scrutiny, they stubbornly raised their hands.
"I want to try with Flint."
It was Lee Jordan who raised his hand.
Harry suddenly remembered that last year Lee Jordan had mentioned a certain Slytherin girl who, because she interacted with him frequently, was gossiped about and ostracized by the Slytherins.
Although Harry had now forgotten the girl's name, he had indeed looked into it at the time.
That girl seemed to have been friends with Flint's group, and those who ostracized her were also Flint's group.
Harry wisely stepped off the stage, and Flint accepted the challenge from Lee Jordan. He was furious now, and the anger from losing to Harry was eager to be unleashed.
Soon, the two guys began to duel.
Harry hadn't seen this style of fighting in a long time; it was completely without thought, all actions stemming from human instinct in response to external threats.
No battlefield observation, no spell combinations, no trap designs.
It was just: you cast a spell, I dodge; I cast a spell, you dodge. The two pressed closer and closer, finally getting right up against each other and wrestling directly.
Even after being separated, they were far from satisfied, wanting to smash their fists into the other person's face again.
What a hearty duel…
Then Snape, as expected, harshly criticized the two. Duelling, a subtle, exciting, tightrope-walking, art-filled activity, had become two stupid animals crashing into each other in their hands.
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