Wayne watched the "Malfoy" he had sent flying into the distance. He raised his wand—the phoenix feather core wand in Harry's hand was identical to the one he possessed in reality—and blew on the tip, just like a Western cowboy after firing a revolver.
He looked at the disheveled "Malfoy" and thought to himself, You little punk. Trying to use Shadow Bolt on me? Eat dirt!
Despite their mutual dislike, every mage in the Wizard's Sanctum knew that the warlock leaders dwelling beneath "The Slaughtered Lamb" next door were not to be trifled with.
Beyond the fear that demonic magic might erode a caster's mind, there was one specific reason mages loathed warlocks: the warlock's summoning ritual was practically a "natural counter" to mages.
That spell was "Summon Felhunter." These demons—which looked like hounds but possessed two massive horns and strange, dangling tentacles—had several abilities that could severely disrupt a mage's casting.
In fact, it was often said that if a warlock and a mage of equal strength fought one-on-one, the mage's chances of winning dropped to nearly zero once the warlock summoned a Felhunter. Combined with the warlock's expertise in "Fear," "Death Coil," and the "Curse of Tongues"—which drastically slowed casting speed—the match was essentially decided.
As one of the six leaders of the Warlock Guild, Sandar was, if not the strongest, at least one of the top contenders.
Yet, Wayne had blasted Sandar so far back with a single strike that he couldn't even get up. To what terrifying level did his strength reach?
Andromath reckoned that even if Sandar stood there and let him attack without resisting, he couldn't have sent the man flying into such a pathetic heap with a single spell.
Raymond, meanwhile, had fallen into a state of absolute worship once again. He instantly felt that his warlock boss, Sandar, wasn't so impressive anymore:
"Teacher is too powerful! Too powerful! I must watch every single frame of these movies diligently. When I finish, I will surpass Sandar and become the strongest warlock in Stormwind—no, in the entire Alliance!"
Inside the screen, the "Malfoy" who couldn't get up stared at the options: [Mission Failed. Retry?]. Without hesitation, he also chose "Yes."
Of course, his mission target was to defeat Harry and prevent him from winning the duel.
The screen flashed, and both returned to their starting positions. They stood facing each other, raised their wands in salute, retreated, and turned simultaneously.
Professor Lockhart began to count again. This time, as soon as the word "Two" left his mouth, Sandar struck: "Corruption—"
Before he could finish the "tion," Wayne shouted at the top of his lungs: "Petrificus Totalus!"
Sandar's body instantly went rigid. He couldn't make a single move, forced to watch helplessly as Wayne cast "Expelliarmus" on him again, sending him flying once more.
"Whoa!" The crowd marveled again.
Although "Petrificus Totalus" had appeared in the first movie, the others—except for Zaldimar and Raymond—hadn't reached that part yet. This spell, which appeared to forcibly control a target from a distance, piqued the intense interest of Andromath and Old Marlin.
"Dammit! Again!"
Sandar refused to accept defeat. He realized his demonic magic didn't seem to work in the movie world, but as a veteran warlock, he was confident that in terms of raw casting—no matter what the magic was—he was far superior to this green boy.
"Three, two..."
This time, Sandar didn't try to use demonic spells. Like the Malfoy in the original plot, he shouted, "Everte Statum."
The incantations in the Harry Potter world were usually very short—much shorter than the spells in World of Warcraft that often required several seconds of chanting. Having watched Wayne duel several times, Sandar had already memorized these incantations by heart.
However, it was still useless.
The result was the same: disarmed, sent flying against the wall, and left in a heap on the ground.
"Why?! You kid, are you cheating?!"
After choosing to restart yet again, Sandar didn't continue the plot but shouted at Wayne instead.
Wayne remained calm and smiled slightly. "If you're not happy, we can swap. You want to try this side?"
Sandar agreed immediately. He felt he had figured out Wayne's pattern; even if he wasn't as practiced, simply following the motions and imitating him should be no problem at all.
Unfortunately, the result once again went against his wishes.
Ever since he had practiced magic with Amy in the movie world yesterday, Wayne had discovered that the more senior a caster was in the real world, the more they were bound by their ingrained casting habits.
He had thought about it carefully later. It wasn't just casters who crossed over; even players back in the real world had habits they accumulated over the years.
Some mages liked to refresh every single buff before a fight started; even if a one-hour buff had 50 minutes left, they had to make it "new" and drink water before engaging.
Some warlocks liked to weave in specific instant-cast spells they believed increased damage within a fixed rotation, and they would make tiny adjustments to their talent points.
These were all expressions of unique habits.
For characters who had become real people in this world after crossing over, these habits were even more pronounced. But despite all variations, the core remained the same: mobilizing one's mana before casting was something almost every caster had to do.
This was why Wayne had mentioned the "Constipation Theory" and the "Lemon Method" to Amy.
Sandar knew he had lost face big time today. Lying on the ground, he couldn't think of a way out for a moment, so he simply stayed down.
It was the observant priestess, Anita, who stepped in to break the tension. "Let's just keep watching the first movie. Wayne has seen so much more and is the owner of the net cafe; he definitely knows more than we do. Once we've finished the movies and practiced enough in this 'Hogwarts' magic school, it won't be too late for you to duel again."
Raymond quickly chimed in, "Yes, exactly! That would be the most fair and reasonable way."
This time, the Sandar lying on the floor finally clicked "No." Before leaving Wayne's synced movie world, he left a parting shot: "You brat, just you wait until I finish watching this. I'll come back and deal with you then!" He then returned to his own progress.
Wayne chuckled inwardly. He didn't mind; in fact, he was somewhat grateful to the man.
After all, what was the fun in beating a mindless NPC Malfoy compared to repeatedly bullying a dynamic sandbag inhabited by a warlock leader?
This was his home court. No one could defeat him on his own turf.