A certain Hogwarts professor of runes

"So next..." Lockhart stammered, "I think it would be best to teach you how to stop unfriendly magic, yes, unfriendly, like the personal experiences I recorded in my book."

"Let's have a couple volunteer to come up here—Longbottom and Finley, what do you say? Professor Hyp, Professor Snape, we'd better leave the stage to them..."

Felix casually toyed with his wand. "A good suggestion, Professor Lockhart. But before that, I think it's necessary to let the young wizards know what a real duel is like, even if it's just a performance."

Lockhart's expression froze. "This, I..." He looked around and saw that the young wizards below the stage were very interested in it, and he couldn't say anything.

"Professor Snape, what's your opinion?" Felix asked Snape, who had remained silent.

The Potions professor gave him a deep, surprised look, then grinned. "Would you like to duel me, Felix?"

"It was just an exhibition match."

Neither of them took Lockhart into account.

Snape gave him a deep look, said nothing more, and simply drew his wand.

Lockhart, who had been awkwardly standing to the side, suddenly realized that he had miraculously escaped the center of the vortex. His face brightened up again. "Looks like our class will have to add a duel on the fly. Let's welcome our two professors!"

This time, the applause from the audience erupted. Ron excitedly told Harry, "Honestly, I've been waiting for this day for far too long! Do you think Snape will end up in the hospital?"

As a staunch supporter of Professor Hepburn, he naturally sided with Felix.

"That was just an exhibition match," Hermione emphasized, though she still tiptoed up and down.

Lockhart stepped back to the edge of the stage and cast a "loud voice" spell on himself—thanks to his book signing speech, he was quite adept at this mantra.

"Now I will give my commentary. Although this is just an exhibition match, a real duel is not like this; it requires a much more acute ability to detect danger in advance—for details, please refer to my published works." Lockhart spoke eloquently. "However—this will still be very beneficial for you. Now, with a bow..."

However, neither of the two players paid any attention to him; instead, they exchanged a few words with each other.

"Felix, what do you want to do?"

"Professor, I just happened to be passing by and thought I'd lend a hand."

"Don't lie to me!" The two were so close that only they could hear the conversation.

"Is it because the professor is skilled in Legilimency?" Felix joked.

Snape snorted. In his eyes, his former student was extremely purposeful in his actions, and his current behavior was naturally categorized as "Felix's first step in preparing to seize power."

The two bowed, each took seven steps back, turned around and looked at each other, simultaneously raising their wands to their chests.

"As you can see, the two professors are holding their wands in a typical dueling stance," Lockhart explained, fulfilling his duty as an interpreter. "This is one of the three common dueling stances. I will count to three, and then they will cast their first spell."

The students below held their breath; it was a completely different atmosphere from Lockhart's "demonstration" just now.

"One...two..."

"Snape won't get killed instantly, will he?" Ron shouted excitedly.

"I don't think so, my God—" Hermione was about to say that Professor Hyp highly praised Snape, but she was quickly stunned by the dazzling scene on stage.

"three!"

Snape shouted, "Expelliarmus!" A dazzling red light flashed, and the spell swiftly flew to Felix's side.

Felix twirled his wand, smoothly unleashing an "Ironclad Charm." An invisible magical barrier appeared in front of him, deflecting Snape's spell. Then, he flicked his wrist, and the magical barrier emitted a dazzling white light, flying rapidly forward.

Snape cast two spells in quick succession before breaking through Felix's armor spell, and the magical barrier quickly dissipated.

However, the white light of the Ironclad Charm obscured Snape's vision. As he instinctively shifted his position—a habit he had developed over the years that saved him—three dim black lights brushed past him, the closest one almost touching his nose.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye, from Snape gaining the upper hand to Felix's defensive counterattack, and then using the white light as cover to quickly unleash three spells for a sneak attack, all in less than three seconds.

Lockhart: "..."

The young wizards: "..."

The duel continued, and Snape dared not let his guard down. He had not fought for almost ten years. Although he had never given up his exploration of magic, he had focused his main efforts on improving potions.

However, he is quickly picking up his old combat experience, and after several close calls, he finally began to fight back.

Their spells flew around wildly, but they both tacitly avoided accidentally harming any students.

Various defensive, offensive, and disarming spells ripped through the air with sharp whistling sounds, causing the distance between the two to rapidly close and widen, their feet constantly shifting slightly.

Lockhart wisely jumped off the stage after a spell grazed his hair, but he still loudly commented, "The duel is getting intense... See their footsteps? Move, move, don't stand still like idiots!"

Lockhart was quite capable; at least he was very eloquent. Through his explanations, many young wizards suddenly understood, which somewhat redeemed his image.

Snape, however, scoffed at this, deftly deflecting a spell and seizing the opportunity to counterattack. He sensed that Felix's spells were gradually gaining power, which was putting increasing pressure on him.

Damn it, this kid is putting pressure on me!

"Why does Professor Hyp's spell seem to be getting thicker and thicker?" Even many young wizards noticed this, but with their limited knowledge, they could only judge the strength of the spell from its "appearance".

Snape's wand trembled violently as an enhanced "Protective Armor" appeared in front of him. Two beams of intense red light collided with it, producing a "thud" sound, and a hole was torn in the magical barrier.

Amazing magical skills...

A bead of sweat had formed on Snape's face.

The young wizards below the stage were dazzled. For the first time, they realized that a duel was not just about foolishly casting spells face to face. There were too many intricacies involved, such as casting speed, timing, defensive methods, footwork, and awareness.

But they didn't know that neither of them was using their full strength.

Felix easily dodged a red beam by tilting his head, and used the brief opening to spin his wand and cast a spell, quickly assessing the potions professor's limits in his mind.

Professor Snape's abilities shouldn't be this great...

The next second, Felix was suddenly alert. He threw out three Ironclad Spells in succession, sending them flying far away to block the only way.

A powerful, crimson spell streaked through the air, swiftly passing through the first and second barriers, before hurtling fiercely toward the third.

The young wizards stared wide-eyed. They might not be able to judge the strength of the spell, but they could clearly see that Snape's spell left a burning trail in mid-air and pierced through the armor's protective barrier.

"Thump!"

A deafening roar echoed throughout the auditorium.

Felix's third Ironclad Charm worked, deflecting Snape's surprisingly powerful spell.

He sensed a hint of dark magic...

Professor, you've really surprised me by incorporating the characteristics of dark magic into a disarming spell.

Do you have an even stronger spell? Do you have any backup plans...?

Snape's situation was far from easy. He did indeed possess some spells, but they were all dark magic and could not be used in public. Judging from Felix's performance, even if he were to use them, they wouldn't be very effective.

He has surpassed me...

Snape had never realized this so clearly.