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Gilderoy Lockhart appeared, wearing a robe heavily embroidered with complex patterns in gold thread, a signature smile on his face as he stepped onto the dueling platform with an extremely flamboyant, swaying gait.
He completely ignored Harry and Malfoy, who had already taken their stances on the stage, and walked straight to the center; his posture was not that of a referee at all.
"Stay calm, my dear children!" Lockhart's voice was magically amplified. "Please allow your beloved and experienced Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—that is, myself, Gilderoy Lockhart—to serve as the referee for this exciting duel!"
"I shall guarantee your safety with my honor and my Order of Merlin, Third Class, ensuring the... um... fairness and justice of this duel!"
"Professor Flitwick... rest... blah blah... you should know, in my experience dealing with vampires..."
He prattled on for a long time, rambling from his "adventures" to dueling etiquette, and then to his theory of "defeating enemies with a smile," completely immersed in his own speech. Spit flew everywhere as he failed to notice the students below losing patience or the increasingly stiff postures of Harry and Malfoy on stage.
After a scalp-numbing speech, he finally remembered the task at hand and turned toward the two duelists with exaggerated movements.
"Now, I declare..." Lockhart's arm swung high, "...this highly anticipated duel—begin!"
On the dueling platform, Harry and Malfoy immediately stood back-to-back and began to pace out according to dueling etiquette.
One, two, three... the two turned almost simultaneously, their wands pointing at each other!
"Three..." Lockhart drawled.
"Two..."
Before Lockhart could say "one," the already impatient Malfoy struck first!
"Everte Statum!"
Malfoy's spell hit Harry's chest with precision.
Harry Potter's body spun uncontrollably in the air several times before landing on the floor with a heavy "thud."
Fortunately, he landed near the edge of the platform and didn't fall off. Harry quickly scrambled to his feet.
"Despicable!" A chorus of angry boos erupted from Gryffindor.
Harry was fuming; without further hesitation, he raised his wand at Malfoy. "Rictusempra!"
This time, it was Malfoy's turn to get hit!
It was as if he had suddenly been tickled in a sensitive spot; his whole body began to twitch and writhe uncontrollably as he let out a strange, loud laugh. He stumbled a few steps and finally landed on his backside with a "thump."
Boos from Slytherin and cheers from Gryffindor rang out simultaneously.
Watching this back-and-forth spell duel from below, which looked more like a street brawl between thugs, Lynn couldn't help but facepalm. What on earth was this? Just a couple of noobs pecking at each other.
Malfoy scrambled up from the floor, his face flushed red with anger and shame.
"Serpensortia!"
A plume of black smoke billowed from the tip of his wand, hitting the ground and quickly coalescing into a thick black snake!
However, the snake didn't seem to follow Malfoy's commands very well.
Instead of attacking Harry, who was right there, it writhed and slithered toward the nearest group of Hufflepuff students, baring its fangs!
"Ah!" A chorus of terrified screams instantly erupted from below, and the students scrambled back in panic.
"Hiss~ hiss~~ (Stop! Don't move!)"
A clear hissing sound came from the dueling platform. Harry Potter stared intently at the black snake, his lips moving slightly as he spoke the language of snakes!
Upon hearing Harry's "words," the originally aggressive black snake actually stopped. It shook its head, then submissively lowered its body and coiled up on the spot, no longer moving.
At that moment, the entire Great Hall fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone stared at Harry with wide eyes, their faces filled with shock, fear, and disbelief. Whispers began to spread like a tide:
"He... he's talking to the snake!"
"Parseltongue! He's a Parseltongue!"
"The heir of Slytherin! Legend says the heir of Slytherin is a Parseltongue!"
Lynn, below the stage, also sat up straight, a look of surprise appearing on his face.
Lockhart only then recovered from his shock. Seeing that everyone's attention had been drawn to Harry, he immediately felt a wave of displeasure at having his thunder stolen.
He stepped forward, attempting to regain control of the situation with his booming voice. "Don't be afraid, children! It's just a tiny snake!"
He brandished his wand, striking what he thought was a dashing pose. "Watch me; I only need a flick of my wand, like this—Vipera Evanesca!"
A beam of light, not particularly strong, hit the coiled black snake. With a twist and a "poof," the snake disappeared.
However, no one cared about him at this point.
Almost everyone's gaze was firmly locked onto Harry Potter, who didn't seem to fully understand what he had just done or why it had caused such a massive reaction.
The atmosphere in the Great Hall became incredibly eerie because of the word "Parseltongue."
"Harry Potter!!"
A cold voice filled with anger rang out from the entrance of the Great Hall, instantly drowning out all the whispering.
Lynn didn't even need to turn around; just hearing that tone—which could make a person's name sound like a curse—he knew who it was.
Snape walked through the crowd, which parted automatically. Every step he took seemed to land on the heartbeats of all the students present as he headed straight for the dueling platform.
On the stage, Harry had just barely recovered from the shock of the Parseltongue incident and the fearful gazes of the crowd when he saw Professor Snape's face, so gloomy it looked like it could drip ink. Harry's heart instantly leapt into his throat.
He watched as Snape strode onto the dueling platform, ignored Lockhart beside him, and finally stopped right in front of him.
Harry opened his mouth, wanting to ask Professor Snape what he wanted—if it was because of the snake just now.
However, Snape didn't give him any chance to speak.
Snape's eyes scanned Harry from head to toe, and then he squeezed out a verdict from between his teeth:
"Harry Potter," his voice was low, "you, last night, broke into the Potions professor's office without permission and stole a precious potion material—African tree snake skin."
With every word he spoke, Harry's face grew a shade paler. Ron and Hermione below the stage were also deathly pale, and Hermione even covered her mouth with her hand.
"For this," Snape's voice suddenly rose, "Gryffindor is docked two hundred points!"
"Boom—" The Great Hall instantly erupted! Two hundred points! That was an astronomical figure at Hogwarts! The Gryffindor students looked like they had lost a parent, while the Slytherin side broke into a fit of irrepressible, malicious snickering.
But it wasn't over yet.
Snape continued to announce, "Plus—a one-month detention!"
Snape paused deliberately. "The detention involves cleaning the castle's corridors. And—no—magic—allowed! I don't think Professor McGonagall will have any objections to this disciplinary decision."
Cleaning the entire castle's corridors for a month without magic?! Even students from other houses gasped. This punishment... Snape was truly exceptionally furious this time.
African tree snake skin was extremely rare. The piece in his private collection was of perfect quality, intended for a complex potion research project, and now it had been stolen by this Potter boy, who was just as arrogant as his father!
If not... if not for those eyes, so similar to Lily's, flashing through his mind, he would have definitely rushed straight to Dumbledore and demanded that this lawless fellow be expelled immediately!
You ask how Harry was caught?
Snape: "Epoch-making" alchemy monitoring is really useful.
That inconspicuous alchemy monitoring device at the door of Snape's storeroom had perfectly recorded the entire process from last night—
On the screen, the door to Snape's storeroom suddenly opened by itself, followed by the ingredient cabinet.
Finally, just as the thief successfully took out the African tree snake skin and seemed to want to carefully identify if it was the right item—he actually reached up and pulled back the hood of the Invisibility Cloak!
The monitoring footage clearly captured that face—the face belonging to Harry Potter, with a silly grin after succeeding!
When Snape saw this scene on his mobile phone screen, he was so angry he let out a cold laugh.
He had never seen such... unprofessional thievery! This Potter was just like his father—arrogant and conceited, even being a thief in such a flawed and blatant manner.