Travers's words grew increasingly foul, deliberately twisting facts and belittling Regulus's strength as mere niche tricks and luck.
Regulus kept his head slightly lowered in silence; he knew Travers was trying to provoke him into losing control and attacking first.
As long as he made the first move, Travers—a fifth-year student forced into self-defense—would be justified regardless of the outcome.
Travers was confident that as long as he wasn't careless and took it seriously, he would never be humiliated like last time.
The surrounding chatter died down as everyone looked at Regulus, waiting for his reaction.
Regulus stood in place, listening to those malicious words, feeling the cold irritation brought by the letter slowly fermenting and heating up in his chest.
Looking at Alge Travers's face, filled with calculation and malice, he suddenly found it somewhat laughable and tiresome.
*Why were there always people who couldn't see things clearly?*
He slowly curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile so cold it was almost sharp.
This smile startled those familiar with him.
Avery and Alex exchanged a suspicious and uneasy look; they both keenly sensed that Regulus's mood was off.
Even Hermes, in the shadows, had his gaze freeze for a moment.
Snape, in the shadows of the corner, watched closely, his black eyes narrowing as he scrutinized a Regulus who seemed like a completely different person.
Regulus didn't explode in rage or snap back as Travers expected; he didn't even look at the upperclassmen waiting for a show.
He simply took two steps forward and spoke in a cold, flat tone: "Save your clumsy provocation, Travers.
You want me to attack first so you can claim the moral high ground of self-defense and salvage your pathetic pride.
Such a childish trick, and you're performing it so diligently."
He watched the other's face instantly turn ugly and continued in that uncomfortably calm voice: "Like a clown."
Those three words, light as they were, felt like three slaps delivered hard across Alge Travers's face.
Then, Regulus raised the hand holding his wand.
"So, let's not waste time."
"Draw your wand."
The common room fell into a dead silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of the fireplace.
Alge Travers's face turned shades of blue and white, a mix of shame from being publicly exposed and fury from being called a clown.
He hadn't expected Regulus to play so far outside the rules, exposing his schemes right under everyone's noses in the bluntest way possible.
"Fine!" Travers snapped his wand out, pointing it at Regulus, his face twisted into a fierce expression.
"Since you're so arrogant, I'll show you the gap between a first-year and a fifth-year student, and teach you how to respect your seniors!"
The crowd automatically moved aside, clearing the central space once more as whispers rose like a tide.
"Tsk tsk, Travers is such an idiot; he actually thinks everyone else is an idiot too."
"The Black kid is ruthless, tearing off the mask directly."
"Fifth-year against first-year… even if Black beat Travers last time, that was a sneak attack, wasn't it?"
"Not necessarily. Look at how he blocked that Dark Arts spell…"
"That's different. Mulciber is also a freshman. Travers has been studying properly for five years, after all."
"This is going to be good."
Avery clenched his fists nervously, while Alex had already closed his eyes in fear. Hermes leaned against a nearby stone pillar, his dark gaze locked onto the center of the room.
"Start!" shouted an upperclassman who enjoyed the chaos.
Alge Travers attacked almost immediately, having learned his lesson from last time, his wand already in hand: "Stupefy!"
A brilliant red light shot straight toward Regulus's face.
Regulus gave his wand a light flick; a flash of light followed, and the Stupefy spell was intercepted in front of him.
"Incendio!" Travers changed tactics, a searing snake of fire erupting from his wand tip and whistling forward.
Regulus still stood his ground, his wand flicking upward slightly—an Extinguishing Spell.
The fire vanished into thin air, and even the high temperature emitted by the fire snake disappeared with it.
Regulus's cold voice came: "Is that all?"
No longer giving Travers a chance to cast, Regulus flicked his wand, and a Jelly-Legs Jinx hit its mark with precision.
Travers's body went limp, and just as he began to pitch forward, another Impedimenta struck his upper body.
*Bang.*
Two spells hit in succession. Travers was knocked clean into the air, flipping over. Before he could land, a second Impedimenta followed up.
*Bang!*
Travers was sent flying through the air like a ragdoll.
The series of small combos made the watching upperclassmen wince; it looked painful just to watch.
"Hiss!" A sixth-year girl gasped, rubbing her shoulders. "That must hurt."
Another boy agreed, "More than the pain, Travers probably feels worse on the inside."
A fourth-year exclaimed, "Look at Black's spells—non-verbal, fast, and the transitions are so smooth!"
A few others were exchanging looks.
*Could you dodge that?*
*Maybe. What about you?*
*I'd struggle!*
"Muddy Ground."
Travers had been hit by three spells in a row and was flying through the air, his mind a complete blank. He hadn't even realized what happened until he hit the ground.
But it hurt so much!
He flew seven or eight meters, but instead of the expected impact, he sank into a quagmire.
"Reducto!" In a panic, Travers fired a Blasting Curse at the ground beneath him, trying to blow the mud away.
But just as the spell left his wand, an empty armchair beside him suddenly came to life.
Its wooden structure rapidly twisted, stretched, and reorganized, transforming in moments into a giant python nearly ten meters long!
The python slithered silently, instantly coiling around Travers's waist, yanking him violently out of the mud, and then the snake's body tightened!
"Ah!" Travers screamed in terror, his wand pointing wildly: "Diffindo!"
The spell hit the python, blasting off a few scales, under which there was clearly flesh and blood.
But that was all. Instead, the snake coiled even tighter, making it difficult for him to breathe.
"Let go! Let go of me!" Travers struggled fruitlessly, his face turning bright red.
Regulus approached with composed steps, looking at the struggling, pathetic Travers coiled tightly by the python, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
He waved his wand with leisurely ease.
The python began to move slowly, dragging the desperately struggling but helpless Travers in circles around the open space in the middle of the common room.
One lap, two laps… like displaying a ridiculous trophy.
"Enough! Let him go!" A sixth-year boy who was on good terms with the Travers family couldn't take it anymore and shouted.
Regulus glanced at him, a look that made the rest of the boy's words catch in his throat.
Only when Travers began to roll his eyes from lack of oxygen and shame did Regulus seem to lose interest, giving his wand a flick.
The python instantly loosened and transformed back into an armchair with torn fabric, falling to the floor.
Alge Travers collapsed on the ground like a fish out of water, coughing and gasping violently. His robes were covered in saliva, tears and snot streamed down his face, and his wand was lost somewhere.
The common room was silent.
Everyone looked at the black-haired boy, who remained as neat as ever, as if he had just returned from a stroll.
Using the most basic spells combined with a precise and imaginative piece of Transfiguration, he had toyed with a fifth-year student in the palm of his hand, never letting the opponent touch so much as a corner of his robes throughout the entire process.
Some even wondered if Black would have killed Travers directly if they weren't in a crowded place like the common room.
The python's movements had been clear to everyone; Travers was on the verge of suffocating.
This was no longer a question of winning or losing; it was a display of attitude and skill, carrying a certain cruel undertone.
Regulus didn't look at the loser on the ground again, nor did he pay attention to the shocked, reverent, or even fearful gazes around him.
The irritability in his heart seemed to have dissipated slightly with this one-sided play, but the deeper sense of cold urgency remained settled at the bottom of his heart.
He put away his wand, turned, and walked straight toward the corridor leading to the dormitories in the silence.
Avery opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. Alex was already stunned.
Hermes looked at Regulus's back with an unreadable expression, then glanced at the slumped Travers on the floor before silently fading back into the shadows.
After tonight, the name Regulus Black might carry some other meanings in Slytherin.
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