Chapter 114 - 114 Ron: Use the disarm spell on me!
Chapter 114: Ron: Use the disarm spell on me!
Ron's excitement was so high that it seemed as if it wasn't Dracula but he himself who had defeated Snape!
Harry glanced at him and was about to make a remark when he suddenly changed his expression, tensed up, and froze.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ron asked, puzzled by Harry's sudden change in demeanor, poking him in the ribs, "I get it now—you're trying to downplay my achievement and change the subject!"
Harry was poked and felt a bit ticklish, trying to suppress his laughter, and subtly nodded towards the stage.
"What's going on, Harry? Why aren't you speaking?" Ron poked Harry's ribs again.
This time, Harry couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
"Ron, stop gloating here, and look at the other end of the stage!" he said between laughs.
"What about that end, other than Snape who just lost to Professor Dracula..." Ron began, then suddenly realized, "Wait, Snape?"
At the mention of Snape, Ron's heart raced.
He quickly covered his mouth to avoid saying anything more inappropriate, and cautiously glanced towards the direction where Snape had exited the stage.
There, at the edge of the stage, Snape had somehow stood up and was now glaring at Ron and Harry with a chillingly cold stare.
"Oh no, I'm doomed, Harry," Ron whispered to Harry, "I'm sure Snape heard everything I said. He looks like he wants to kill me!"
"I think he probably wants to do more than just kill you—he'll probably blame me too..." Harry said with a frown, "Whether I participated or not, Snape will believe I was involved in bad-mouthing him."
"Then let's suffer together, good buddy!" Ron said, putting his arm around Harry's shoulders with a martyr-like expression.
...
On the other side, Snape, who had been feared by Harry and Ron, shifted his gaze away.
He glanced at the white wand in his hand, which had shot a spell from its tip, and threw it aside in frustration.
Then, Snape borrowed Draco Malfoy's wand and used a general counter-curse on his left arm—
"Finite."
The petrification curse he had cast on himself was immediately lifted. He shook his left arm, feeling it was back to normal, then returned the wand to Draco and walked back to the stage.
"Dracula—does playing these petty tricks make you happy?" Snape confronted Dracula, his voice lower than usual, "You could have had a fair duel with me, but why resort to such despicable methods?!"
Snape felt deeply aggrieved. He was not the type to be so careless.
As a seasoned undercover agent, Snape was extremely cautious and rarely used others' magical items without thorough checks to avoid being sabotaged.
But today's opponent was Dracula, a very powerful adversary who had already defeated him twice!
Snape didn't think Dracula would resort to such tricks; he could defeat him with sheer strength.
Additionally, during the battle with Dracula, Snape had focused most of his attention on observing Dracula's every move to guard against sudden attacks, leaving him little time to pay attention to the unimpressive white wand he was using.
In summary, Snape had fallen victim to Dracula's scheming and was outwitted by his own wand.
So he angrily confronted Dracula, questioning why he used such trivial tactics to win.
"Because I've already fought you twice," Dracula said with an air of nonchalance, "I must admit, the first fight was somewhat surprising, but later battles with you became quite dull."
Snape's eyes widened in shock, followed by intense fury. He ground his teeth in frustration but could find no way to retaliate against Dracula.
"Sorry, Professor Snape," Dracula said cheerfully, "This reverse wand was an inspiration I just got, and I couldn't help but use you as a test subject."
"The inspiration came from Ronald Weasley, didn't it?" Snape's mood gradually stabilized, and he showed a malicious smirk.
"That's correct," Dracula nodded lightly, "Weasley's wand was broken, but the magically repaired wand turned out to have different properties. That was unexpected."
"I'm not interested in how you got your inspiration, Dracula," Snape said darkly, "I just want to request an authorization for the Duel Club—"
"I want to request that Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter be paired up for a duel!"
Dracula's gaze swept over Harry and Ron, who looked resigned, and a hint of interest appeared in his eyes.
"Of course, no problem!" He was eagerly anticipating the scene of Snape tormenting Harry and Ron, so he decisively agreed to let the two Gryffindor students face off.
"Alright, let's end the duel demonstration here!"
Dracula turned to the students below and announced loudly, then snapped his fingers.
Immediately, numerous bright dividing lines appeared on the marble floor of the hall, crisscrossing to mark out many small duel areas.
"Now, Professor Snape and I will walk among you and pair you into groups of two. Each pair will have a duel."
"Well... Given the size of the venue, it's quite difficult for students from all seven years to duel simultaneously. Neither Professor Snape nor I can effectively ensure the safety of every pair of young wizards during their duels. It would be too troublesome..."
Hearing this, Snape cast a sideways glance at Dracula, with a twitch in his eye. 'So... this person isn't unable to oversee all the students' safety, just finds it too bothersome, right?'
"Let's start with the younger students," Dracula continued, seemingly ignoring Snape's thoughts. "Considering that first-year students have had less time to study, they will observe for now. Second-year students will start the dueling matches!"
He cheerfully winked at Snape. "Professor Snape will handle the pairing for the second-year students' upcoming duels."
Snape nodded in understanding, sneering as he walked off the stage.
Harry and Ron felt an immediate sense of dread, huddling together and nervously pushing toward the back of the crowd.
Snape quickly descended the stage, his long black robes billowing behind him.
Even though he had just lost a duel, Snape still exuded an intimidating aura, making it so that not a single young wizard dared to approach him!
As he moved through the crowd, he hastily paired up the second-year students—
Neville Longbottom and Hufflepuff's Justin Finch-Fletchley were matched together; Draco Malfoy's two henchmen, Crabbe and Goyle, were paired...
Yet Snape's pace did not slow down for the pairings, continuing to march towards the center of the crowd.
Harry and Ron felt Snape's gaze never leave them!
Finally, Harry and Ron had backed up against the wall, with no retreat left.
Snape approached them with a cold, enigmatic smile.
"I think your dream team should be broken up," he said with a dismissive sneer. "Weasley, you can pair with Seamus Finnigan. As for Potter—"
Harry instinctively looked to Hermione for help, her eyes full of concern.
"I don't think you should be paired with Miss Granger. You're always together, and there's no real challenge in that." Snape continued with a frosty smile. "Malfoy, come here."
He looked at Draco Malfoy, who was standing between Crabbe and Goyle. "Let's see if the famous savior Harry Potter will live up to the expectations of those foolish people, or if Slytherin's Malfoy will come out on top..."
"And you, Miss Granger—You can pair with Miss Millicent Bulstrode."
Malfoy strutted over, wearing a smug smile that was just begging for a punch.
He was followed by a Slytherin girl who was tall and bulky, with a fierce, jutting chin that made her quite formidable, even more so than Crabbe and Goyle.
Hermione forced a smile, but Millicent Bulstrode ignored her completely.
Millicent Bulstrode's imposing presence even drew Dracula's attention.
Dracula immediately made his judgment, concluding that the poor Miss Granger had only a chance of victory by using the spells she had mastered to buy time from afar.
Indeed, if a wizard is faced with a powerful physical opponent, things usually don't end well...
"To your partners!" Snape shouted loudly from the stage, "Bow!"
Hearing the command, most of the young wizards below bowed politely to their opponents.
However, Harry and Malfoy, the old enemies, didn't move an inch, not even nodding. They just stared intensely and angrily at each other.
"Raise your wands!" Snape's icy voice rang out again, "One—Two—Three—"
Before he had even finished counting to three, several young wizards, either due to nervousness or a desire to strike first, began their attacks.
Malfoy was one of those eager to strike first. As soon as Snape counted to "two," he acted—
"Flipendo!"
His spell hit Harry hard, making Harry feel as if he had been struck on the head by a cauldron. He staggered slightly.
Fortunately, Malfoy's Knockback Jinx seemed to be poorly executed and didn't knock Harry away as intended.
Seizing the opportunity, Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy and shouted:
"Rictusempra!"
A silvery light hit Malfoy in the stomach, causing him to double over and gasp for air.
The silver light was a tickling charm, and upon hitting Malfoy, it made him laugh uncontrollably, rendering him almost immobile.
Seeing Malfoy kneeling on the ground, Harry hesitated, feeling it was unethical to use magic on him while he was down. It seemed against the spirit of the match...
However, not everyone shared Harry's sense of fairness.
Malfoy, still laughing desperately, pointed his wand at Harry's knee.
"Tarantallegra!" he shouted through his laughter and gasps.
The next moment, Harry's legs began to move uncontrollably, as if he were dancing a ridiculous tap dance.
...
Compared to the duel between Harry and Malfoy, the duel between Ron and Seamus Finnigan was much friendlier.
As soon as Snape finished counting to three, the duel officially began.
Ron and Seamus stood on opposite ends of the arena, staring at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.
"Seamus, you go first. I'll let you," Ron said mysteriously, seeing Seamus hesitate.
He knew his broken wand was unreliable, and if he acted first, it might backfire and hit him instead.
So he had to let Seamus make the first move!
"Why don't you go first, Ron?" Seamus retorted. "I can let you go first if you want!"
Seamus also knew that his spellcasting was poor, and many simple spells turned into time bombs that could hurt himself as much as his opponent.
So he had to let Ron go first!
The situation reached a stalemate.
At this moment, Ron suddenly recalled how Professor Dracula had defeated Snape.
Dracula had won by letting a wand that reversed spells be captured by the opponent, thus using this method to outwit them and ultimately win.
With this thought, Ron was overjoyed—
"Seamus, quick, use the Disarming Charm on me!"
He shouted loudly, even holding his wand high above his head in a gesture resembling a "French salute" toward Seamus.
Seamus: ?
"Trying to trick me? Not a chance!" Seamus immediately saw through Ron's trick and laughed triumphantly. "Ron, don't think I don't know what your wand is like! You've messed up more than once in class!"
But seeing Ron's high-raised arms, Seamus was reluctant to miss this rare opportunity to win.
So he gritted his teeth and cast another spell—
"Lootor Wibbly!"
The next moment, a violent explosion occurred in front of Seamus...
Looking at Seamus, now covered in soot, Ron couldn't help but laugh, "As expected, Seamus, the explosion expert, even turns the Wobbly Legs spell into a bomb!"
Then, confidently, he raised his wand and pointed it at Seamus, feeling assured of his victory—
"Furnunculus!"
The next moment, Ron's own Boils spell hit him in the stomach...
Seeing Ron's face covered in boils, Seamus, though scowling, couldn't help but laugh, "As expected of you, Ron the genius, I knew you excel at hurting yourself!"