#85 - Section 85

"I sold a lot of alchemical tools to Lockhart, so he's not entirely without a chance."

Ethan whispered into Cassandra's ear.

In a duel to the death, Snape would win one hundred percent, no question.

But now there are too many restrictions on Snape. He can't use dark magic, he can't use large-scale spells, and he has to be mindful of the surrounding young wizards.

As for Lockhart, judging by his actions, he's not a very rational person.

Moreover, he cleverly used gloves to cover the ring, leaving only half a finger exposed to easily grip his wand, although it hardly makes a difference whether he uses his wand or not.

"If you're ready, we can start now, Professor Snape!"

Lockhart confidently flashed Snape what he thought was a charming smile, not caring about Snape's gaze.

He had experimented with the alchemical tools many times in the past few days, and they were truly powerful, which gave Lockhart confidence.

Originally, he planned to knock Ethan unconscious when leaving Hogwarts, use a Memory Charm to erase his memory, and take back his hard-earned money, but after experimenting with these tools, he abandoned the idea.

If he could sell these to him, then what he kept for himself would only be stronger, and he might not be able to escape if things went south.

After the two performed the customary wizard's duel salute, they retreated to either side of the stage, holding their wands in front of them like arrows.

"As you can see, we hold our wands in the standard dueling stance. We'll count to three, and then we'll cast our first spells. Of course, neither of us will take the other's life!"

"One, two, three!"

"Expelliarmus!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Snape flicked his wand, and a dazzling red light shot towards Lockhart, who hadn't even reacted yet, at an extremely fast speed.

What a waste!

Snape couldn't help but think to himself as he watched Lockhart, who was still unmoved.

Lockhart, seeing the spell rushing towards him, remained calm.

The necklace he wore on his chest immediately activated, and the red light struck the blue barrier, only causing ripples.

A Shield Charm?

Snape looked at Lockhart in disbelief, casting spells silently, and without even changing the position of his wand.

How could someone who could do this be bitten into the hospital by Cornish Pixies?

Now wasn't the time for Snape to think about these questions, because Lockhart, that bastard, didn't even chant a spell or wave his wand, and a gray-white spell shot towards him.

Helpless, Snape could only cast a Shield Charm to defend himself and try to counterattack with spells like Knockback Jinx, Disarming Charm, and Binding Spell.

But Lockhart was like a turtle shell, blocking all of his spells one by one.

Of course, he could also use the Killing Curse directly, which could ignore the defenses of the Shield Charm, but unfortunately, it wasn't allowed.

Lockhart was also shocked. He had picked a tough opponent. If he didn't have the alchemical tools, he would probably have been blown away in one exchange.

But the current me is not the me of the past. It's time to let you experience the power of money.

"Professor Snape's strength is good, but it's clear that my strength is even better!"

After blocking Snape's spell again, Lockhart didn't forget to flash a big white smile at the young wizards on the sidelines.

The young wizards below the stage were shocked. Was this really the same Lockhart who was bitten into the hospital wing by Cornish Pixies and repeatedly embarrassed himself by trying to show off?

His strength looks quite strong. Why didn't he show it before?

Could someone be impersonating him with Polyjuice Potion!

"Lapifors!"

A blue flame was flung out by Snape and exploded in front of Lockhart.

Stimulated by Lockhart's words, Snape also began to use offensive spells.

Taking advantage of Lockhart's vision being obscured by the explosion, an invisible blade swept from Snape's wand, all so silent.

Crack!

The sound of a barrier shattering came, and Lockhart looked at Snape in horror as blood spurted from his right arm.

Snape actually broke through his Shield Charm?

Ethan, who was watching all of this from below, wasn't surprised. First of all, Sectumsempra's power was still very strong.

Secondly, this Shield Charm necklace was just a first-year practice piece and hadn't been strengthened, so its defensive power was limited.

It's just that Snape actually used Sectumsempra, which Ethan hadn't expected.

Although these young wizards couldn't tell what Snape was using at all, they just felt it was awesome, but it was a bad influence!

It was just his arm just now. If it had been aimed at his head, Lockhart didn't dare to think about it any further. In a panic, a dark flame ignited from under Lockhart's feet, and in the blink of an eye, it formed a black ring of fire that enveloped Lockhart.

Ethan thought the stage would be completely burned in an instant. After all, it was made of wood and covered with carpet, but now it was still motionless. Had Dumbledore cast a spell on it?

Snape's expression became serious. He had already recognized what it was. How could Lockhart even know this?

What to do? He was caught in a dilemma.

Fire Style: Protection isn't like the others. If the fire spreads and the surrounding young wizards get a little bit on them, he'd have to collect their ashes. He didn't dare to act at all!

"Ahem, the two professors' demonstration was very successful. The demonstration ends here!"

Dumbledore walked over from a distance. How could he not be watching? But he didn't expect Lockhart to even use this.

Thinking of this, Dumbledore took a deep look at Ethan, not expecting that even Fire Style: Protection could be inscribed.

During this time, he was monitoring Hogwarts, and all personnel he suspected of being related to the Chamber of Secrets were under surveillance.

Lockhart was also one of them. Among them, he received intelligence that Ethan and Lockhart had met in private, but he didn't know what they were doing. Now it seems to be these alchemical tools.

"This demonstration was very successful and received high recognition from Professor Dumbledore."

"Next, it's your turn. Come to the stage in pairs to duel and accumulate experience for the later duels."

With Dumbledore giving him a way out, Lockhart took the opportunity to withdraw the flames and flashed his signature smile at the young wizards.

The young wizards below were still a little skeptical, but many had already begun to applaud. Lockhart's performance just now deserved the applause.

Seeing this, Lockhart's smile became even brighter. His goal had been achieved. These ten thousand Galleon rings were indeed expensive, but they were effective.

"It's just that my magic power has been consumed too much, this arm..."

As he spoke, Lockhart raised his right arm, which was still spurting blood, and looked down at Dumbledore.

These rings didn't have any healing spells. Lockhart didn't want to experience the tragedy that happened to Harry last time.

[Thank you to the generous reader '大佬不喜欢时间' for the monthly ticket! Thank you!]

Chapter 114: Harry's Parseltongue Exposed

After receiving treatment from Snape, Lockhart began organizing the young wizards into dueling pairs.

Having been in the limelight quite a bit, Lockhart seemed particularly enthusiastic.

"Weasley, you can team up with Finnegan. Potter, come over here!"

"Adrian, you come over too. You two are in the same grade, you can definitely form a team and show everyone what dueling is all about."

Lockhart's favorite thing was topical figures.

One of these two was the famous Savior, and the other was about to become the youngest recipient of the Order of Merlin, Second Class.

After leaving Hogwarts in the future, he could completely write a book called 'Those Years I Was a Professor at Hogwarts'.

In it, he could write about Harry Potter and Ethan Adrian engaging in a wonderful wizard duel under his guidance and command.

"Wait, Adrian, stand aside for a moment!"

"Malfoy, you come up and team up with Potter."

Ethan, who had just walked over, was stopped by Snape, who turned his gaze to Draco Malfoy, who had been staring at Harry from the beginning.

Although Snape didn't know what Malfoy's problem was with staring at Harry from the start, the two were of similar strength. This duel could give Harry a chance to learn. If it were Ethan, it would be over in one move.

Then all that would be left was discouragement, which wouldn't be conducive to teaching.

Although he wouldn't hesitate to ridicule Harry and deduct points when necessary, he was still his goddess's son after all.

"Professor Snape, I am the head of the Dueling Club."

Lockhart walked to Snape's side and deliberately reminded him.

How could he allow his plan to be ruined?

"Do you have any objections?"

Snape glanced at Lockhart and raised his wand slightly.

"No objections. You're here to assist me, so naturally you can also form groups."

Lockhart laughed awkwardly twice and chose to compromise.

He just remembered that the person in front of him was a tough nut to crack, especially with that invisible curse. If he hid and ambushed him, he really wouldn't know how he died.

Ethan, who was watching the two's performance from the side, felt that something was missing. He thought he could see a classic recreation of 'You Regret, I Shadow', but this was it?

"Gerald, you come and team up with Adrian."

After arranging Harry, Ethan couldn't forget about himself. But there weren't really any good choices, so he could only find a seventh-year student from his own house to fill the spot.

Having obtained seven O.W.L.s, Grover Gerald was considered among the top ten graduating students in Slytherin.

He wondered if he could figure out some of Ethan's strength.

Ethan and Grover Gerald came to the other side of the stage. This was a tall, thin wizard with a somewhat mean look.

Malfoy, who had replaced Ethan, walked proudly to face Harry, with a smug smile on his face.

From the moment Lockhart announced that they could form pairs for a duel, he had been eyeing Harry.

On the other side, Cassandra approached Hermione again after Ethan was called away. Hermione originally didn't want to be with Cassandra and was preparing to go back to Gryffindor to find a roommate.

But after being provoked by Cassandra, she had no choice but to agree.

There was no way. With so many Slytherins and Gryffindors around, if she, as a Gryffindor, didn't dare to accept the challenge from a Slytherin, she would probably be ridiculed to death when she went back. This was even more unacceptable than being defeated.

"Face your partners!" After everyone had found a partner, Lockhart returned to the stage and shouted loudly, "Bow!"

Ethan and Gerald naturally followed the rules, as Lockhart and Snape had already demonstrated.

"Raise your wands, get ready!"

"When I count to three, cast your spells!"

"One, two, three!"

Lockhart's voice had just finished when Gerald, on the opposite side, was sent flying several meters as if he had been hit by a truck.

Lying on the ground, Gerald looked at the ceiling, feeling sore all over.

He was beginning to doubt his life.

He had imagined countless outcomes: the two sides were evenly matched, he侥幸 won, or he unfortunately lost. But he really hadn't expected to be knocked down so decisively by a single Knockback Jinx.

Ethan, who had withdrawn his wand, began to observe the surrounding situation. The first thing he saw was Harry, who was closest to him. At this moment, he landed in a face-down position after spinning 80 degrees in the air.

It had to be said, the Savior was indeed thick-skinned. Even after falling like this, he immediately got up. He was obviously much more resistant than last year.

"Tickle him!"

Harry, who had gotten up, immediately cast a spell, and a silver light quickly struck Draco's stomach.

At this moment, Draco was still complacent and didn't make any response, so he, like Harry just now, landed in a swan-dive position after spinning 1080 degrees in the air.

After landing, Draco was laughing so hard that he was paralyzed and unable to move.

However, Harry, like Draco, didn't know the importance of following up.

After Malfoy recovered his breath, he immediately pointed his wand at Harry's knee.

"Tarantallegra!"

Harry's legs, under the spell, twitched uncontrollably, as if dancing a quickstep.

Snape really couldn't stand it anymore. A Finite Incantatem stopped the negative effects on both of them on the spot.

Ethan turned his head away in disappointment. The duel between these two was like a turn-based game, similar to the final exam last year, with no progress at all.