Chapter 56
The demonstration by Lucian and Snape completely ignited the enthusiasm inside the Great Hall, many young wizards recognized the spells Lucian had used.
[Petrificus Totalus, Impedimenta, Incendio]
All three of these were only mid-level spells. If one didn't pursue the kind of power Lucian displayed, most of them could actually cast these spells themselves.
In other words — every spell Lucian had used was one they had already mastered. Quite a few young wizards were already imagining in their minds how they would look casting these spells.
Snape, his face dark and gloomy, began selecting young wizards to come up onto the stage for duels. He deliberately paired Slytherin students with Gryffindor students, and arranged for his favorite protégé, Malfoy, to face off against Potter.
Lucian didn't care how Snape arranged things. He stepped down from the stage, gave up his position, and prepared to find a good spot to watch the show.
"What a magnificent duel! Professor Lucian, I never imagined you would be so skilled at dueling — right from that first evasive movement, I could tell. You are absolutely a dueling master!" Professor Filius Flitwick came rushing over enthusiastically, practically dancing with excitement in front of Lucian. In his younger days he had been the champion of the dueling circuit, and his passion for the sport had never faded.
But after coming to Hogwarts, openly teaching "dueling" — a skill with obvious attack and self-defense applications — had become an extremely sensitive matter. Only someone as unscrupulous as Snape would dare do it.
So Flitwick had poured all his passion into teaching Charms instead. None of that, however, diminished his lavish praise for today's duel.
"You're too kind, Filius. You are the true dueling champion. Compared to you, I'm just a rookie."
"No, no, you're being far too modest! I truly cannot imagine how someone with your level of skill has remained so unknown in the wizarding world all this time! What exactly have you been doing before?" Because of this duel, Flitwick suddenly developed tremendous interest in this low-profile colleague of his.
And what happened next among the students made his eyes sparkle even more.
He had originally expected to see a series of comical scenes or dull, turn-based shooting contests — one person casts a spell, the other casts a spell, both standing stiffly like statues.
He never expected that even the first-years would duel with surprising competence — though the sight of a group of students rolling around on the floor was rather comical, and some even knocked heads together — their awareness of using movement to evade spells was actually very good.
Moreover, they had almost completely stopped using those embarrassing little jinxes like "Tarantallegra". Nearly every student could cast the simplest Impedimenta and Petrificus Totalus — even if their spells flew about as fast as a drunken mosquito.
Still, this greatly delighted Flitwick. Even Professor McGonagall, who had been deeply worried because of the Chamber of Secrets incident, now unconsciously wore a brilliant smile on her face.
"I'm truly surprised — I never expected — when did these children improve so much?" She couldn't rein in the expression on her face; it was even brighter than during the Quidditch match. She and Professor Flitwick kept nodding toward the students in unison.
Watching tiny Professor Flitwick bouncing excitedly beside tall Professor McGonagall — one short, one tall, their movements perfectly complementary — Lucian couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.
But right at that moment, both of them turned around simultaneously to look at Lucian, their eyes shining brightly. They had been teaching at Hogwarts for decades; of course they understood what this year's students were normally like.
Such a dramatic change could absolutely not be separated from Lucian's influence.
"What exactly did you do to them? Professor Lucian, over the decades Hogwarts has welcomed dozens of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, but I have never seen students improve so dramatically…"
"I simply mixed some practical combat training in with the theoretical teaching."
"Merlin's beard, stop being modest at a time like this!" Flitwick jumped up and patted him on the shoulder.
"We all know how difficult it is to achieve this — it's certainly not something that can be solved just by caring more. I think you understand the wisdom of teaching better than either of us. When we have time, we should definitely talk more."
At this moment, Professor McGonagall had also lost her usual cool distance. Because of the Chamber of Secrets matter, her impression of Lucian had slightly declined before, and lately she had been so overwhelmed that she hadn't paid much attention to his teaching for quite a while.
She never expected that, without anyone noticing, he had already done so well.
The two of them became extremely enthusiastic, immediately asking Lucian about his teaching philosophy and insights. Their fervor was so intense that even Lucian felt a little unaccustomed — normally they only exchanged greetings when they met; when had they ever been this warm?
"Both of you are more experienced professors and were once my professors as well. Of course I know how much you care about teaching. It's just that… There might be a cognitive gap here. I personally call it the Curse of Knowledge."
"The Curse of Knowledge?"
Both Flitwick and McGonagall were hearing this term for the first time. They were just about to ask him to explain further when a sudden burst of noise erupted from the student crowd.
They instinctively looked over — at some point, a snake had appeared on the stage, and Harry Potter appeared to be talking to the snake in a sinister, hissing voice.
In an instant, all the young wizards froze.
Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake dissolved into a wisp of black smoke and vanished. But the shock Harry left behind did not disappear along with the smoke.
Ron led him out of the Great Hall, Hermione hurrying along beside them.
As they left, people instinctively moved aside to let them pass, as though afraid of catching something contagious.
"What just happened?" Professor McGonagall frowned, looking in the direction Harry had gone.
"Serpensortia — how could such dark magic come from a little wizard's wand? Snape is at it again with his nonsense." Professor Flitwick couldn't help shaking his head, vaguely guessing the answer — most likely Snape had taught his student an inappropriate spell just to ensure victory, and in doing so had caused chaos among the students.
Because they were standing too far away and hadn't observed the situation immediately, neither he nor McGonagall had noticed Harry's Parseltongue.
Snape's gaze followed Harry as he left, then turned back and met Lucian's eyes.
In Snape's gaze, Lucian saw something both cunning and deeply calculating — had he done this on purpose? To deliberately force Harry to reveal his Parseltongue in front of everyone?
But what benefit could this possibly bring, other than making the students fear and reject Harry?
Did this man love or hate Lily Evans' son, after all? Lucian really couldn't figure him out.