A week later, an exciting notice was posted on the bulletin boards in the common rooms of all four houses—the school was starting a Duelling Club. It seemed that the recent rumours had made Dumbledore feel it was necessary to train the students' practical combat skills. Draco had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time; he had his own plans for this activity.
At eight o'clock in the evening, almost all the students arrived in the Great Hall. They were packed together, each holding their own wand, faces full of excitement.
The long dining tables had vanished, and a gilded stage had appeared along one wall, illuminated by hundreds of candles floating overhead. The ceiling had once again become as dark as velvet.
They were discussing excitedly. Hermione was guessing if Professor Flitwick would be the one teaching them, as it was said he had been a duelling champion in his youth. However, when Harry and Ron saw Lockhart walking onto the stage in plum-coloured robes, looking radiant, they both sighed.
Snape followed closely behind him.
"The previous ones were just small mistakes. Today, we'll see his true strength," Hermione said confidently.
"Give it a rest. He made Harry's bones disappear. I'd rather his mistakes happen to Snape, so he'd lose a couple of bones too," Ron said sarcastically.
"Stop arguing, let's just watch seriously," the victim spoke up, and Hermione and Ron stopped their bickering.
Lockhart waved for silence and then shouted, "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can everyone hear me? Excellent! Now, Professor Dumbledore haspermitted men to start this little Duelling Club to train you all thoroughly, in case you ever need to defend yourselves in the same way I have done on countless occasions—for full details, see my published works."
"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape," Lockhart said, flashing a wide grin. "He tells me he knows a thing or two about duelling himself and has generously agreed to assist me in a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry—when I'm through with him, I'll return your Potions teacher to you safe and sound, never fear!"
Then they each bowed to the other. Lockhart made many flourishes with his hands, while Snape merely gave an impatient jerk of his head. Then they held their wands like arrows in front of their chests.
"As you can see, we are holding our wands in the standard duelling position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Of course, neither of us will take the other's life." "I wouldn't bet on that," Harry whispered, seeing Snape baring his teeth. "One—two—three—" Both of them swung their wands over their shoulders at the same time. Snape shouted, "Expelliarmus!" Suddenly, a dazzling flash of red light erupted.
Draco felt his second-hand embarrassment flaring up. He turned his head away, unable to bear watching further. In a moment, Lockhart would be blasted off the stage, hit the wall, slide down, and then force himself to stand up and say some meaningless words to save face while enduring the students' sceptical gazes. Once or twice was fine, but with it happening so often, Draco marvelled at the man's thick skin.
"Protego!"
"What?" The expected event didn't happen. Draco turned his head back and saw the red light being deflected, shooting toward the ceiling.
"Expelliarmus!" After a successful defence, Lockhart began his counterattack. He twirled his wand a few times before leisurely casting the spell, as if to appear completely at ease.
"Protego!" Snape waved his wand, following suit. However, it seemed the power of Lockhart's spell was much stronger than he had imagined. The spell was deflected, but Snape himself staggered back a few steps and finally sat down on the floor.
"What on earth is this?" Draco couldn't help but want to complain. He even began to maliciously speculate whether Lockhart had bribed Snape with a few photos of Lily to get Snape to go easy on him. This was simply too reality-shattering—a buffoon defeating the Half-Blood Prince in a duel? The Half-Blood Prince who invented Sectumsempra and Levicorpus? Who would believe that?
There was a deathly silence.
Then every house except Slytherin erupted into thunderous cheers. This was the first time they had seen Snape completely humiliated with no way to retaliate. If his skills were inferior, who could he blame?
"Alright, did everyone see that!" Lockhart waved his wand, drawing everyone's attention. He then walked forward slowly and extended his hand, seemingly wanting to show off his refined grace.
However, Snape did not accept his gesture. He dusted off his robes and stood up on his own.
The rejected Lockhart didn't seem embarrassed, and no one thought he was. The only ones embarrassed were the Slytherin students. Their Dean had been defeated, and by someone whose usual performance in school hadn't seemed like much.
"My goodness." Ron's mouth hung open, and he didn't close it for a long time.
"I believe he really did make a mistake before." Harry's eyes were also wide. He now felt that Lockhart was simply the best teacher for helping him vent his frustrations. Even if his bones had vanished before, it didn't matter anymore. Who doesn't make a mistake once in a while?
Hermione wore a triumphant smile, as if saying, "See, I told you so."
Defeating Snape this time caused all the previous voices doubting Lockhart to vanish, and it earned him immense prestige. Now, not only were the girls looking at him with starry eyes, but even many boys were looking at him with admiration.
"Just now, Professor Snape and I attacked each other with Expelliarmus," Lockhart cleared his throat and began to speak of his duelling experience. "But as you all saw, even with the same spell, the effect varies depending on the person using it." He glanced at Snape and added, "Professor Snape, don't mind it; this is all for the students."
Snape's expression became even worse, turning a frighteningly pale colour.
The Gryffindor students were all communicating excitedly. They only regretted not having a camera with them to capture a precious photo of this memorable moment.
"Harry, seriously, it's such a shame Neville didn't come today," Ron said, as if thinking of something.
"It really is a shame." Harry shook his head regretfully. "If he had come today, maybe he wouldn't be afraid of Snape anymore."
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