The other five students had all received Outstanding (O) in their first-year flying lessons. Charlie, Theo, and Zacharias were even core members of their respective house Quidditch teams, with superb flying skills.
"Professor, maybe you shouldn't consider me for the team battle," Sean said awkwardly.
Everyone else would be soaring through the sky on broomsticks while he stood on the ground like an idiot, serving as a stationary target. That would be miserable.
"No need. That can also be a tactic," Snape said coldly.
"A tactic?" Sean suddenly had a bad feeling. "You mean… I'm supposed to attract enemy fire?"
Snape explained, "The team battle won't take place here."
"Not here?" everyone asked.
Professor Sprout pointed toward the direction of the Black Lake.
"The team battle will take place in the woods by the lake. The trees there aren't too dense, but they can serve as obstacles to make the match more interesting."
Sean had once flown around that area on Buckbeak. The trees were indeed fairly sparse. From the air on a broomstick, it would be difficult to escape detection.
However, the scattered trees and small slopes could provide cover from magical attacks coming from above. Someone moving nimbly on the ground might still be able to interfere with opponents in the sky.
"Take your broomsticks and begin training according to your groups," Snape said.
The three groups spread out in different directions across the Quidditch pitch. The professors remained on the ground, while the students mounted their broomsticks and circled overhead.
With only six people flying above such a large field, the sky felt extremely open. There was no need to worry about accidentally hitting members of another group.
However, only five people were in the air.
Sean decided not to force himself into something he wasn't good at. While staying on the ground reduced his mobility, it allowed him to perform much better.
"You're still not preparing?" Snape asked, looking at Sean.
"Professor, if someone's wand gets knocked away, that counts as a win, right?"
"Yes," Snape replied curtly.
Sean nodded and moved about ten meters away from Snape. That distance was considered relatively safe. Beyond it, the accuracy of spells dropped significantly.
"Sean, you're really not getting on a broom?" Penelope asked from above.
Clearly, she wasn't very familiar with Sean yet. Sean looked up at her and smiled awkwardly but politely.
"No. I'll stay down here and draw the professor's attention. You look for an opportunity to attack."
Sean openly announced this not-so-brilliant strategy.
Penelope sighed and nodded. She wasn't expecting a second-year to coordinate any complicated tactics with her anyway.
"Expelliarmus!"
Sean made the first move.
But Snape effortlessly cast a silent "Protego," blocking Sean's spell with practiced ease.
Snape was far more formidable than Yovich. Knocking the wand out of his hand with just Sean and Penelope was practically impossible. Snape could simply maintain a Shield Charm and exhaust the two of them until they ran out of magic.
Sean did know two spells that could bypass a Shield Charm.
One was "Bone-Eroding Shadow," which he had secretly learned from Yovich. The other was the "Sectumsempra Curse." But he dared not use it—the very creator of that spell was standing right in front of him.
"Petrificus charm!"
"Stupefy!"
"Locomotor Mortis!"
"Expelliarmus!"
Sean kept launching spell after spell at Snape. Snape remained entirely defensive. Meanwhile, Penelope hovered in the air, attacking whenever she saw an opening.
"Petrificus charm!"
Even under attacks from both the ground and the sky, Snape handled everything calmly. He raised Shield Charms with astonishing speed—almost the instant he moved his wand.
Sean continued casting spells with his right hand in rapid succession. Though they were all simple spells, the constant casting quickly drained his magical energy.
Penelope was consuming magic just as rapidly.
Meanwhile, Sean's left hand was quietly making small, concealed movements.
Snape was busy defending against Sean's attacks while also dodging Penelope's harassment from above. He didn't notice what Sean's left hand was doing.
One of the broomsticks suddenly lifted off the ground on its own and slowly drifted toward Snape from behind.
It had originally been meant for Sean, but he had tossed it aside earlier.
"Just a little closer… a little closer," Sean muttered inwardly as he guided the broomstick forward with a Levitation Charm.
His plan was simple.
While he and Penelope kept Snape distracted from the front, Sean would control the broomstick from behind and strike Snape's wand hand. If the broomstick knocked the wand away, they would win.
But things rarely went according to plan.
When the broomstick was only half a meter away from Snape, he suddenly sensed something unusual. He spun around sharply and raised his left hand.
Without a wand, he cast the same Levitation Charm.
But his magic was far stronger, and his spell structure far more stable.
The broomstick that Sean had been controlling was instantly wrested away from him.
With a flick of his left hand, Snape sent the broomstick flying straight toward Penelope in the air.
Penelope had never imagined Snape could cast spells with both hands at once. Caught completely off guard, she was knocked off her broom.
Falling from over ten meters would mean broken bones at the very least.
Although the hospital wing was highly experienced at treating fractures, Sean still reacted immediately, casting a Levitation Charm to catch her.
"Expelliarmus!"
At that moment, Snape took advantage of the distraction and cast a spell at Sean while simultaneously catching the falling Penelope.
Sean's wand flew from his hand, and he himself was thrown back several meters.
"Cough… cough…"
Sean ended up with a mouthful of dust. He brushed the grass from his face and muttered inwardly,
"Was that really necessary? It's just practice. Would it kill him to go a little easy on students?"
"You thought a little trick like that could defeat me?" Snape said as he slowly walked over.
Sean muttered quietly, "Students from other schools definitely would've fallen for it."
"Your opponents in the team battle won't stand still and patiently practice with you," Snape replied.
Professor Flitwick and Professor Sprout were busy supervising their own groups and hadn't noticed what had happened here.
But Professor McGonagall, who had been observing all three groups, was stunned by Sean's actions.
She strode quickly over to Snape and Sean.
"Sean, that broomstick just now—were you controlling it with wandless magic?" she asked.
"Yes, Professor," Sean replied.
Since he had used the technique openly, he wasn't afraid of the professors seeing it. His reputation as a prodigy had already spread among the first-years last year. He didn't mind making that reputation even greater.
Although Snape had dismissed Sean's wandless magic as a "little trick," he was secretly impressed by the boy's talent.
"Severus, did you see that? Sean was casting spells with both hands simultaneously," McGonagall said, turning to confirm with Snape.
Snape nodded.
Even he had to acknowledge Sean's exceptional talent.
To Read 100+ advanced Chapters, head over to P@treon
patreon.com/DarkVerse146