Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the stands, people were starting to collapse, unable to withstand the cry of the Mandrake seedlings.
Seeing this from a distance, Victor immediately grabbed a megaphone-like magical intercom and shouted, "Med-wizards! A lot of people have fainted near the Hufflepuff arena, get over there!"
"Understood!" an excited voice responded through the speaker. It was the young Hufflepuffs who were intensely interested in healing magic and often experimented on their classmates.
On the arena, Hannah re-potted the Mandrake, believing the cries had already knocked Sonia out. But then...
BANG!
A body hit the ground.
"Look, the fog is clearing!" a spectator who hadn't fainted shouted, pointing at the arena. The white mist was indeed dissipating, and the Hufflepuffs in the stands let out a collective moan.
"Oh, no!"
Yes, Hannah had lost. Sonia was standing next to the unconscious Hannah, holding a pot of the Mandrake seedling, her expression blank, as if she was deep in thought.
So, what had happened in the mist?
The spell Sonia had used to create the cold fog was a simple application of Ice-Make Magic, a variation of a silent assassination technique: using low temperatures to freeze an enemy's body and then silently assassinating them under the cover of the fog.
Creating the cold fog didn't require a magic circle, but with Sonia's current mastery of Ice-Make Magic, she couldn't yet control it to the extent Victor had taught her, where she could muffle sound.
To perform the "silent" operation, Sonia had already cast a Silencing Charm on herself at the start of the duel, which serendipitously made the Mandrake's cry useless against her.
So, from Sonia's perspective, she had simply seen Hannah pull out a plant, and a moment later, she had replanted it with a look of victory on her face.
Sonia de Oliveira of Fairy Tail successfully challenged the arena, and the Hufflepuff team failed to defend it in the first round.
The scene now shifted to the Slytherin arena. Harry and Ron, the two young lions, naturally ran to this arena, intending to take turns challenging it.
Ron was the first to go, but unfortunately, his Earth Magic spells took longer to cast than his "off the tongue" spells, so he was quickly defeated in the second round. Now it was Harry's turn.
"Good luck, Harry!" Ron said, a bit disheveled as he patted Harry's shoulder. To be honest, the Slytherin students were annoying, but they were genuinely good duelists. They were all from pure-blood families, and their pedigree showed.
Defender: Blaise Zabini.
Attacker: Harry Potter (Fairy Tail).
Blaise Zabini, a tall boy with high cheekbones, dark skin, and narrow, slanted brown eyes. He was conceited about his appearance and everything connected to him, which made him sharp-tongued and self-centered.
Blaise's mother, Mrs. Zabini, was a beautiful and famous witch who had been widowed six times, with each deceased husband leaving her a large inheritance.
On the arena, neither Harry nor Blaise spoke. They didn't even bother with the basic wizarding duel etiquette. As soon as Blaise finished his bow, he was on the offensive. "Furnunculus!"
True to form as a Slytherin, he started with a vicious jinx that caused boils to sprout, inflicting excruciating pain.
But Harry was prepared for the sudden attack. He quickly cast Finite Incantatem, which neutralized the jinx, then cast Incendio. Because he had been training with Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, the Incendio he cast was much hotter and more powerful than normal.
A scorching fireball, half a meter in diameter, shot straight at Blaise.
Blaise scrambled to the side to dodge. The fireball hit the granite floor of the arena behind him, leaving a charred black mark.
"Damn it!" Blaise's eyes were red with fury. The fireball hadn't hit him directly, but it had singed half of his hair and his face was burning. If it weren't for the enchanted gear his family had given him, the last three spells would have been enough to finish him.
Blaise, who was extremely vain, wanted nothing more than to use Reducto on Harry, but the rules didn't allow it.
He quickly got up, pointed his wand at Harry, and said viciously, "Oppugno!" Countless stones suddenly appeared in front of Blaise and shot toward Harry at an incredible speed.
Harry quickly cast Impedimenta, causing the stones to stop mid-air. He then sprinted to the side, and three seconds later, the stones hit the spot where he had been standing.
"Avis!"
"Petrificus Totalus!"
Harry summoned a flock of birds to harass Blaise, and Blaise used the Petrifying Charm to deal with the oncoming birds. But just as Blaise was about to counterattack, Harry suddenly vanished.
"Where is he? Where did he go?!" Blaise panicked, searching everywhere, but he couldn't find Harry. He assumed Harry had cast a Disillusionment Charm, so he pointed his wand at the air and shouted, "Homenum Revelio!"
No response.
Down in the stands, Snape shouted in a panic, "You idiot! He's wearing an Invisibility Cloak! Force him out with a large-scale spell!"
It turned out that while Blaise was distracted by the birds, Harry had taken the opportunity to put on the Invisibility Cloak he had received last Christmas. As Blaise heard the tip, he waved his wand, preparing to cast Oppugno again.
But at that moment, Harry had already crept up behind him. A holly wand suddenly appeared from thin air, and a low whisper was heard: "Expelliarmus!"
Blaise was thrown from the arena. The Slytherin arena was lost, then reclaimed, only to be lost again.
Victor watched the situation and nodded in satisfaction. "Good! Much better than when he dueled with Draco. At least he's not overconfident just because he has the Invisibility Cloak anymore."
"Hmph. So what? Potter's Invisibility Cloak is completely useless against me," Draco, who had been watching nearby, said proudly.
Once, during a scuffle in the guild, Harry had used his Invisibility Cloak on him. But Draco had used Water Magic to drench the entire arena, and with the Glisseo charm, Harry had slipped and fallen countless times.
Seeing the arrogant look on Draco's face, Victor rolled his eyes, then gave him a menacing smile. "Are you just going to stand there, Draco?"
Draco froze, shaking his head nervously. "No... no, I'm not!"
"Then what are you doing just standing there?" Victor's face went stern. He waved his wand and sent Draco flying. "Everyone else from the guild is busy, but you're just standing here. Go challenge an arena. If you don't take one down, I'll make you eat an entire rock cake!"
With that, he tossed Draco out of the stands.
Draco sat on the grass, rubbing his bruised backside, and grumbled, "Fine, I'll go. I can definitely do better than Potter." With that, he stood up, ready to choose an arena to challenge.
Just then, a familiar voice came from nearby. "Draco!"
Draco spun around, a look of surprise on his face. "Dad?! Mom?!" He hadn't expected his parents to come to Hogwarts so early.
"What are you doing?" Lucius strode towards him, leaning on his serpent-headed cane. "I've been looking for you since the match began, but I haven't seen you compete. Don't tell me you're afraid?"
"Of course not!" Draco immediately retorted, making up an excuse. "I was just taking care of some things. I'm about to go challenge an arena now."
"Then which arena do you want to challenge?" Lucius asked.
"Uh..." Draco hesitated for a moment. He hadn't actually decided which one to go after. He scanned the entire Quidditch Pitch, then pointed to the arena where a green banner had just been raised. "I'll go for that one."
Lucius followed the direction of Draco's finger. A subtle smile played on his lips before he quickly put on a straight face. "Then what are you waiting for?"
——————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/PrimalDemon [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are 50+ advance chapters available for you to read!