New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
"Expelliarmus!"
A flash of red light accompanied the crisp shout, and the wooden wand fell to the ground.
Under the impact of the spell, Alex's body flew high into the air, then crashed down heavily.
'She's only a second-year. Why couldn't I block her spell?'
Alex struggled up from the floor, his expression slightly twisted. Just now, he had attacked in a way that was practically a sneak attack. In the end, Hermione had not only blocked his spell, she had countered and taken him down instead.
How could her reaction speed be that fast?
It would have been stranger if Hermione's reaction speed had not been fast.
Dudley often trained sneak attacks and counterattacks with her. If she failed, there would be a "punishment."
It was not just Alex, the person directly involved, who had failed to react.
Many of the students present had not been able to follow what happened either. From their point of view, Alex had only just drawn his wand and cast a spell when a streak of light flashed before their eyes, and then he had already been defeated.
The whole process had been so quick that it caught everyone off guard.
Some of the students who had only just arrived even said,
'I got here and saw Alex flying through the air.'
"Mr. Shaffer—no, Prefect Shaffer. The lesson on fearing the strong... have you learned it?"
Hermione spoke softly, doing her best to imitate Dudley's tone so that she would seem a little calmer.
If this were the usual Hermione, she would already have started educating Alex on which syllables in his spell pronunciation had been incorrect, which movements had been unnecessary, and what other parts had been wrong.
Dudley had told her before that, at a time like this, she had to put on a proper front.
She had to carry herself as if she had the situation entirely in hand.
Only then could she establish the bearing of a strong person.
"I wasn't ready just now. I was careless. Again. I want a fair and proper duel with you!"
Alex did not care about the looks from the other students at all and shouted loudly at Hermione.
He really had been careless.
He had not expected Hermione to react so quickly.
He refused to believe that he truly could not beat a mere second-year.
What happened just now had to have been a coincidence.
She must have been trying to launch a sneak attack too, and we happened to move at the same time.
Ron stared at him with wide eyes, silently marveling at how thick-skinned he was.
A fair and proper duel?
He actually had the nerve to say that.
As for the looks the other students gave Alex, there was even less need to mention them.
You, a sixth-year, sneak-attacked a second-year, got taken out by her counterattack, and now you were shouting that you wanted to duel her?
And she was a girl?
"The three of you can come at me together."
Alex was, after all, a prefect, one of the outstanding students in his House and year, and a respectable person.
Knowing he was in the wrong, his face flushed red, and he squeezed those words out through his teeth.
'Great!'
Ron almost agreed on the spot.
He had wanted to teach this fellow a lesson for a long time.
But this time, he was not the main character.
Besides, he really could not beat Alex.
"Prefect Shaffer, launching a sneak attack and then being defeated is already embarrassing enough."
Neville picked up the wand Alex had dropped and gently wiped the dust from it. It was made of the same wood as his father's wand.
Rowan.
He looked at Alex with his brown eyes, which were neither especially large nor especially small, and spoke from the bottom of his heart.
"You can't beat Hermione. Why humiliate yourself any further?"
Neville spoke sincerely.
Alex listened in awkward silence.
"Neville, give him his wand back," Hermione said to Neville. Then she turned to Alex. "It seems your lesson is not over yet."
Neville obediently handed the wand back to Alex.
After taking the wand, Alex did not rush to attack this time. Instead, he straightened his robes.
"The three of you can come at me together. This time, I guarantee I will not take advantage of you."
Once had already been embarrassing enough.
If it happened again, then regardless of whether he won or lost, he would be humiliated to the extreme.
He had to win.
And he had to win in style.
"I'm enough on my own."
Hermione waved a hand.
Ron and Neville sensibly stepped aside. The other students all held their breath, quietly waiting for what would happen next.
A second-year member of the disciplinary group against a sixth-year prefect.
A duel, of course, began with a bow.
"Then, Miss Granger, you'd better watch carefully this time."
Alex spun his wand in his hand, then pointed it at Hermione with a somewhat gentlemanly air.
"Ladies first. You may attack first."
Alex was trying to recover some face.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Hermione raised her hand and cast a spell at once.
Standard gesture.
Standard pronunciation.
Standard movement.
It was a textbook-level attack.
"Protego."
Almost the instant Hermione called out her spell, Alex cast a protective spell on himself.
Protego could also be called the Shield Charm. It was the most versatile protective spell, instantly building an invisible wall around the caster that could rebound simple spells back at the enemy while also providing a certain degree of resistance against curses.
This spell was fairly difficult.
Even some adult wizards could not master it.
The fact that Alex could use this spell skillfully meant his talent was quite outstanding.
To put it bluntly, perhaps even some Aurors had not mastered this spell so well.
Facing the spell that had been reflected back at her, Hermione's first reaction was not to cast a Shield Charm on herself. Instead, she waved her wand and cast another spell.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Hermione did not know how to use the Shield Charm.
This did not have much to do with the difficulty.
The main reason was...
She had not reached that part of her studies yet.
Even with Professor Flitwick giving her extra lessons, there was no way Hermione could master seven years' worth of Hogwarts Charms in only one year.
Besides, the Shield Charm was not a spell normally taught in the standard textbooks.
Not having the Shield Charm did not mean Hermione was certain to lose.
Facing the two spells Alex cast with a wave of his wand, Hermione very easily tapped the air several times with her own wand.
"Stupefy."
"Rennervate."
"Reducto."
"Reparo."
The best way to deal with a spell was to use its counter-spell.
With very little magical energy, it was possible to dispel an opponent's spell.
A powerful wizard had to be a knowledgeable one.
This was a required part of wizard dueling.
And almost every spell had a counter-spell.
Only a very small number of spells had no counter-spell.
For example, those three curses.
Otherwise, they would not be called the Unforgivable Curses.
Because there was no way to undo them.
Hermione was completely focused.
At this moment, her mind was exceptionally clear.
No matter what spell Alex cast, she had a way to deal with it.
The students watching from around them found it thrilling.
Aside from the first spell Hermione had cast, Alex was the one attacking throughout the entire process.
His offense was extremely fierce.
If it had been anyone else without Hermione's depth of knowledge, the slightest carelessness would have led to defeat.
After all, he was a sixth-year.
After all, he only had one year left before graduation.
And he was also a prefect.
Alex was practically synonymous with excellence.
When he was not careless, his strength was still considerable.
'I passed my O.W.L.s with nine O's, after all.'
'My goal is to become an Auror!'
"And I am definitely going to win!"
Seeing that he still could not defeat Hermione, and that all of his spells were being dissolved by her counter-spells with only the tiniest amount of magic power, Alex did not become impatient in the slightest.
On the contrary, a triumphant smile appeared on his face.
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader