HP: The Root of Everything - The Magician

How could Minerva McGonagall, the headmistress of Gryffindor, not know about something so important?

A tabby cat appeared beside Dumbledore and then transformed into human form. Upon seeing this, Professor McGonagall wanted to stop it immediately. She was a very responsible professor and did not want the young wizards to get hurt.

But just as Professor McGonagall was about to step out of the castle, Dumbledore stopped her: "My dear Minerva, we shouldn't stifle the children's enthusiasm and sense of honor."

“I think... not only will I, the principal, stop you, but Severus will too.”

After saying that, Dumbledore looked with a smile at Snape, who was standing atop the castle tower with a barely perceptible smile on his lips.

After carefully observing the tense aura emanating from the two young wizards, Professor McGonagall realized that this wizarding duel possessed a sacred quality.

So he could only suppress his worries and watch from the sidelines with Dumbledore.

Draco held his wand upright in front of him, then swung it down like a knight's sword, finally giving Harry Potter a slight, gentlemanly bow.

After rising to his feet, Draco solemnly swore an oath: "My name is Draco Malfoy..."

"I am the heir to the pure-blooded Malfoy family, one of the 28 sacred families."

"In the presence of the great Merlin, I request to engage in a wizarding duel with Harry Potter."

During Draco's duel oath, the young Slytherin wizards seemed to be infected by his spirit, all taking out their wands from their robes and holding them upright in front of them.

The Slytherin wizards stood in neat rows, their hands holding their wands unwavering and steadfast.

They all declared in unison: "This duel, under the fair and just rule of the great Merlin, will be witnessed by me, 'Agate'..."

"I, 'Tangguyi,' will witness this duel..."

"I, 'Julie', will witness this duel..."

"I, 'Loben,' will witness this duel..."

"I, 'Haiwei,' will witness this duel..."

"This duel will be between me..."

The young Slytherin wizards all stepped forward, swearing an oath to Merlin with their wands to witness the wizarding duel between Draco and Harry Potter.

Severus Snape watched this scene, which filled him with immense pride and exhilaration, his hands clenched tightly within his robes: "Good, very good..."

[This is the real Slytherin, this is the student I taught.]

The inspiring scene of the young Slytherin wizards filled Professor Minerva McGonagall with anxiety as she watched, eagerly hoping that her Gryffindor students would set a good example.

However, it left her somewhat disappointed.

As the Slytherin students solemnly swore their oaths, filled with a sense of mission and honor, the young Gryffindor wizards began to feel lost and unconsciously felt ashamed of their own inferiority.

Harry Potter didn't notice the lion cubs behind him starting to get scared.

What he cares about now is Draco Malfoy.

What they faced was Slytherin's overwhelming belief in honor above all else.

With this inviolable sense of honor, Harry Potter smiled excitedly, a smile that contained a deep sense of pride.

After a hearty laugh, Harry's expression shifted abruptly. He held his wand upright in front of him and solemnly declared, "My name is Harry Potter."

My name is Tom Riddle.

"I am from a wizarding family, the Potter family, and I am the sole heir."

I am Tom Riddle, the one abandoned by House Gaunt from the Holy 28, and I am the sole heir to Slytherin.

"In the presence of the great Merlin, I request to engage in a wizarding duel with Draco Malfoy."

[Under the witness of supreme honor, I grant Draco Malfoy's request for a duel.]

After saying that, Tom forcibly took over Harry's body.

This glorious duel belongs to Tom, and he will never allow Harry Potter, who has some Muggle blood, to accept the challenge.

At that moment, two gentle breezes suddenly blew across the calm field.

A gust of wind blew from the direction of Hogwarts Castle, making Draco's wizard robes flutter.

Another gust of wind blew from the Forbidden Forest, ruffling Harry/Tom's hair.

When the two winds blew from different directions, for a fleeting moment, the materialist Teach Carr strangely believed that Merlin really existed in this world.

Strangely, it was Merlin who stirred up the battle winds for the two young wizards who were about to duel.

The duel begins when the two breezes collide.

Tom did not launch the first spell attack because the duel of honor was sacred and fair, so he suppressed his strength to the level of Harry in his third year.

Tom effortlessly dealt with the incoming curse without shifting his stance.

When his first attack failed, Draco began to move. Unlike in his second year, he no longer stood there dumbly waiting for Harry to unleash his spell.

While moving on two feet, Draco repeatedly circled around to Harry/Tom's blind spots and then launched magical attacks.

But Tom's experience in magical combat is far superior to that of 13-year-old Draco.

Tom controlled Harry's body, moving him on one foot to turn around, and then waved his wand to unleash pure, attribute-less magic, completely negating the attack spell Draco had shot at him.

After completely dispelling the attack spell, Tom stretched out his wand towards Draco's feet, cast a Transfiguration spell that stretched and deformed the weeds on the ground, and then controlled the extended grass ropes to bind Draco.

Draco, now bound, was momentarily flustered, but in his panic, he did not lose his rational judgment.

"Blazing Flames"

Draco cast a fire spell, precisely controlling the flames to burn away the straw ropes binding him.

Then, the wand was waved, and the flames from the burning straw rope flew toward Harry/Tom.

That wasn't all. Before the flames hit their target, Draco concealed himself behind the flames and then cast a teleportation spell on himself.

"Yugadimulle Vioosa"

Draco seized the perfect moment to strike, using a levitation charm to lift a basketball-sized rock from the ground, then binding it with his wand and striking Harry/Tom.

The attack from both flames and rocks terrified Hagrid, who was watching from the sidelines, and he panicked, hastily pulling out his little red umbrella to try and rescue Harry Potter.

Hagrid's worries were unnecessary; it wasn't Harry who was attacked, but Tom.

"Armor Protection"

Just as the flames and stones were about to touch Harry's body, Tom swung his wand at a speed beyond human vision.

A magical barrier instantly appeared on Harry's body, completely protecting him from the flames and the impact of the stones.