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Chapter 33: Uncharacteristically

Snape ignored him and solemnly held his wand upright in front of him, staring intently at Dracula.

The standard pose for initiating a duel.

Seeing this, Dracula also dropped his playful expression and a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

"A wizard duel? It's indeed a long-forgotten formality."

He then drew out his eerie wooden wand, holding it upright in front of him.

In the bowing ritual before the duel, Snape was somewhat perfunctory, merely bending slightly at the waist, while Dracula was even more casual, just lowering his head before the duel between the Hogwarts professors began.

"Expelliarmus!"

Snape was the first to cast his spell.

A bright red light illuminated the dark Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, making Dracula's wine-red eyes look as red as blood.

Dracula lifted his wand and casually deflected the disarming charm to the side, letting it smash the tables and chairs around him into pieces.

As the red light faded, the classroom returned to its dim state.

"Don't test me, your abilities should be more than this," Dracula provocatively said to Snape.

Snape didn't respond. Instead, he continuously changed his attack direction, flicking his wand to send one mundane spell after another towards Dracula.

Petrification spells, stunning spells, disarming charms... These basic spells, which hadn't changed much over the centuries, were constantly shot from the tip of Snape's wand and were effortlessly deflected by Dracula, like a smooth-flowing stream, without any pause.

Faced with these basic spells, Dracula's expression grew increasingly impatient. In the end, he couldn't even be bothered to use his wand, simply catching the ordinary spells with his hand.

"Is that all you know? If your next attack is still so boring, then let's end this duel."

Dracula raised his wand. Behind him, a dark-colored moon seemed to rise, casting an ethereal glow on his silver hair.

Next, a crescent-shaped blade of light silently shot towards Snape from the moonlight.

The classroom was silent, but the crescent's speed was so fast it was almost impossible to see!

Instinctively, Snape cast a Shield Charm, placing a transparent barrier in front of him, and pointed his wand forward—

"Sectumsempra!"

The next moment, the crescent blade collided with the Shield Charm, instantly shattering it. Snape was thrown back along with the barrier, knocking over countless tables before crashing heavily into the back door of the classroom.

At the final moment, the hidden ripple Snape had cast flew towards Dracula.

Dracula's eyes shifted slightly, showing a hint of curiosity at this unfamiliar spell. He lifted his hand, trying to catch the invisible ripple in his palm.

With a heavy thud, the door emitted a muffled sound, and Snape fell to the ground, his face turning extremely pale.

Meanwhile, Dracula's slender hand reflexively contracted.

He glanced down at his palm—at this moment, a straight, narrow line of bright red blood was clearly visible!

The bloodline was healing, but unlike the efficient healing speed typical for vampires, it was contracting slowly, like a slowly burning fuse or a water mark gradually evaporating under the sun.

"An interesting spell, did you create it yourself?" Dracula asked, his eyes moving away from his hand with a light smile.

"None of your concern," Snape said weakly, leaning against the classroom door with his hand on a wound at his waist.

Dracula was not at all offended. Smiling, he stepped over the wreckage of tables and chairs, walking slowly towards Snape.

"Professor Snape, I always thought you were the epitome of a Slytherin, not someone impulsive." He reached Snape's side, crouching down, with a gentle white light glowing in his hand. "In any case, the most beneficial approach for you would not be to come alone to duel with me, especially without knowing my background."

Snape was about to retort, but then he was astonished to find that the wound on his waist, inflicted by Dracula's crescent blade, was healing at an exaggerated speed.

"I'd say, after your doubts about me, you should have reported to the Headmaster. That would have been more in line with Salazar Slytherin's self-serving style," Dracula continued. "But since you came to me in the end, it means Headmaster Dumbledore trusts me and does not agree with your deductions."

Snape remained silent.

"So another issue arises. Even if the Headmaster denies your deductions, it's unlikely you would recklessly come to duel with me. Professor Snape, surely you're not as idle as I am, looking for some excitement, are you?"

In a moment, Snape's wound had completely healed. If not for the large tear in his wizard robe, it would have been impossible to tell he had ever had a serious wound on his waist.

"You're overthinking it. I'm just trying to regain some face after the embarrassment at the hall entrance," Snape said coldly.

He swung his sleeve heavily and stood up from the floor, showing no gratitude for Dracula's treatment.

Dracula was half-crouched on the ground and happened to glance up just as Snape was swinging his sleeve. He vaguely saw a tattoo on Snape's left wrist... it seemed to be a pattern?

Using his excellent night vision and memory, Dracula recognized the tattoo's design—a grotesque skull with a snake emerging from its mouth like a long tongue.

'Is this... the Dark Mark?' Dracula was taken aback.

He had seen this symbol in the newspapers LeMay collected over the decades.

Dracula then recalled Snape's recent behavior, which was uncharacteristic of Slytherins, and his expression brightened with realization.

In the darkness, Snape didn't notice Dracula's change in expression.

After standing up, he numbly walked towards the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, involuntarily recalling the scene from twenty minutes ago when he was talking with Dumbledore in the Headmaster's office...