A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

Eight o'clock in the evening, in the school auditorium.

The long dining table disappeared, and in the center of the auditorium was a temporary, square, gilded stage with three wooden steps around its edge.

Hundreds of candles floated in mid-air, adorning the center of the auditorium with a beautiful glow.

Harry and Ron hurried back to the Great Hall, where almost all the students had arrived, jostling and discussing animatedly. The two pushed their way forward through the crowd, and Harry accidentally knocked off a first-year witch's toad-eye glasses. He quickly apologized, "Sorry."

The witch took the glasses, put them back on her forehead, and hummed something softly, which Harry couldn't hear.

The two arrived at the Gryffindor minor wizarding quarter, where Seamus, Dean, and Neville were already there. "Hey! Harry, over here." They breathed a sigh of relief. "There are so many people here."

Neville Longbottom turned his round face around: "Almost everyone's here. Looks like everyone's curious about the duel."

At that moment, Hermione came from another direction to join them, holding a newspaper in her hand.

"You're a little late. Where have you been?" Harry asked, craning his neck to look out into the corridor.

"I went to Professor Hyp first, and then I ran into Professor McGonagall on my way back."

"Something wrong?" Ron asked casually. Before she could answer, he suddenly let out a heavy sigh. Several other young wizards did the same. They saw Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in a magnificent crimson robe, stride into the Great Hall.

Beside him stood the serious-looking Severus Snape, the two a striking contrast—the former exuding enthusiasm, the latter somber and solemn; the former dressed in bright colors, the latter entirely in black.

Harry groaned as his two most hated professors were about to teach him a dueling course.

Professor Lockhart, with the air of a peacock spreading its tail feathers, began his speech with a ten-minute account of how he had "laboriously persuaded Dumbledore to give everyone the opportunity to learn how to protect themselves," inevitably interspersed with familiar self-praise and book recommendations—a tactic they had become immune to.

In the final thirty seconds, Lockhart made a rare appearance to introduce his "assistant," Professor Snape.

"Professor Snape himself knows a thing or two about dueling, and he generously agreed to help me with a little demonstration before class—but don't worry, I'll return your Potions professor to you in perfect condition." He grinned widely.

Snape curled his upper lip into a polite smile, which sent a chill down Harry's spine. If Snape had smiled at him like that, he would have run away long ago.

During this time, the school doctor, Mrs. Pomfrey, stood impatiently at the edge of the hall, carrying a white medicine box, while Professor Felix Heap also quietly appeared in a corner of the auditorium.

He was quite interested in this so-called "duel course" and had some ideas in mind, so he decided to come and see for himself.

If Professor Lockhart messes up, perhaps he could take over...

Based on his understanding of the professor, a mishap was highly probable.

This was a test of his subconscious dissatisfaction with the mediocrity and chaos of the wizarding world and Hogwarts, but out of caution, he decided to wait and see.

……

The dueling lesson officially began. Less than three minutes later, Felix watched with a twitching eye as Professor Lockhart was sent flying by the "Disarming Charm." He stood up in a disheveled state, a long tear appearing in his magnificent purple robe.

You're still bad at cooking, but can't you at least have some self-awareness?

Professor Lockhart was helped up by several young wizards, and he staggered back to the center of the stage. "Well, everyone saw that!" His wavy hair stood up straight under the spell, looking quite comical, but what was comical was what he said next.

"That's how the Disarming Charm works. I hope my demonstration left a deep impression on you—" He glanced at Snape, "but don't take offense, your intentions were quite clear. If I wanted to stop you, it would have been effortless..."

"But young wizards need to broaden their horizons, so let them see..." Lockhart couldn't finish his sentence, as Snape was glaring at him menacingly.

Lockhart cleverly shifted the topic, moving the lesson to the next stage. Without any specific instruction, he brought out a dozen pairs of young wizards and had them stand in small squares on the stage.

"Demonstration time is over! Let me see what you've learned, Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me..."

What followed was a messy battle. Lockhart wanted to get rid of a direct confrontation with Snape or specific magical instruction, so he shifted his focus to critiquing and instructing. However, he overestimated the spellcasting skills and discipline of the young Hogwarts wizards.

Especially since Snape intentionally or unintentionally arranged for his own house to team up with the lion cubs, it would be strange if they didn't fight.

Despite Lockhart's repeated insistence that only the Disarming Charm could be used, the young wizards hadn't learned it at all—unless Lockhart had just "demonstrated" it. So, after the two sides exchanged several ineffective spells with flushed faces, various minor curses popular among the students emerged.

From Felix's perspective, only Harry and Malfoy's pairing was somewhat interesting, but the two basically had no concept of dueling and adopted a turn-based system, with one of them "grinning and shouting" and the other "Tarantella dance," and the rest of the time they were just watching.

The remaining young wizards, Neville and Justin, both collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. If he wasn't mistaken, neither of them had cast a single spell from beginning to end.

Ron grabbed Seamus, whose face was ashen, and apologized repeatedly. His wand was still emitting green smoke.

As for her assistants' group... their wands had long been lost, and they were wrestling with each other. The Slytherin girl had the upper hand due to her large size advantage, and her arm was clamped around Hermione's head. However, Hermione also had one hand tightly gripping the hair of the other girl...

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Lockhart screamed, but it did nothing to change the situation. Felix had to push through the crowd and unleash a dozen spells with his wand to separate the young wizards.

"Professor Hyp..." Lockhart was flustered and hesitant, but his attention was quickly drawn to the young wizards' miserable state. "Miss Fawcett... pinch it hard, the bleeding will stop immediately. Boot, your nose is broken, and Ernie..."

Madam Pomfrey stepped onto the stage, yanked Lockhart away, and the distinguished school nurse quickly cast spells, pouring various potions into the young wizards' mouths. "Dumbledore shouldn't have approved it... It's absurd, ridiculous... Completely unqualified..."

Simo took a sip of the green stuff, his face turned even greener, and finally he burped, exhaling a puff of green gas.

"Making young wizards do dangerous things is a disgrace to the professor..." Pomfrey muttered to herself, but she quickly resolved the problem. In less than five minutes, the young wizards were standing up again.

Lockhart seemed a little flustered. "Um, ah..." He paused for a few seconds. "Let's thank Mrs. Pomfrey for her efforts; she's a great helper in our dueling course... and of course, Professor Hyp."

He glanced at Felix furtively; Felix was standing on the stage, showing no intention of leaving.