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Chapter 305: Snape's Fury
Chapter 305: Snape's Fury
As Kyle stepped onto the stage, cheers erupted from the crowd. Fred and George were the loudest, even taking a minute to craft a supportive banner in the style of a Quidditch banner, which they waved enthusiastically.
Cedric and Qiu also joined in on the fun, running over with colorful streamers in hand.
Truth be told, this was the first time Kyle wished he hadn't known any of them.
"Alright, Kyle. Don't be nervous," Lockhart said. "I'll teach you a trick. When Flint points his wand at you, do this."
He raised his wand and swung it left and right, attempting to create intricate patterns, but instead, he fumbled and dropped it on the ground.
Laughter erupted from the crowd.
Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Haha... My wand is a bit overexcited."
Snape approached Marcus and whispered something in his ear, causing him to let out a sneering chuckle.
"No need to worry," Lockhart said cheerfully, patting Kyle's shoulder. "Even though he's in his sixth year, as long as you do what I just showed you, there's nothing to be afraid of."
"What? Drop my wand on the ground?" Kyle asked.
Lockhart pretended not to hear.
"Ready?" he shouted. "Three... two... one, begin!"
Marcus quickly raised his wand...
"Armor Charm!"
"Blast-Ended Skrewt!"
Perhaps due to Snape's words or having learned his lesson, Marcus first cast a shield charm and then, instead of using a dark curse, he transfigured his wand into a thick, long black snake.
This type of curse would be useless against an Armor Charm.
Kyle was aware of this as well, but he hadn't intended to continue with the Ironskin Charm anyway.
Just as the black snake reared its head to attack, Kyle's spell was also complete.
"Downfall!"
Marcus stumbled as his feet sank into the stage, his legs trapped in the suddenly muddy ground.
It was the Swamp Spell that Flivi had taught him in the Spell Club, which could turn solid ground into a quagmire and was also a commonly used trap spell in duels.
Caught off guard, Marcus' body swayed, and the Fire Spell he had been preparing was interrupted.
Kyle sidestepped the attacking black snake and raised his wand.
The snake twisting in mid-air transformed into a rope that flew back towards Marcus, binding his wrists and arms.
"Do you concede?" Kyle smiled.
Marcus didn't answer, his eyes fixed on Kyle with hatred as he struggled to lift his wand.
"Alright, I understand," Kyle took a deep breath and once again used the Transfiguration Spell.
The stage behind Marcus started to bulge upwards, morphing into a two-meter-tall stone statue.
Amidst the horrified gazes of the onlookers, the statue raised a long-handled axe high above its head, briefly gathered its strength, and then brought it down with tremendous force.
Shouts and screams filled the air as the nearby crowd instinctively backed away, many even covering their eyes, unable to watch what was about to unfold.
"I concede!" Marcus shouted at the top of his lungs.
"That's enough!"
At the same time, Snape also raised his wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"
The statue froze in place, the massive axe blade suspended in mid-air.
"Do you want to kill Flint?" Snape roared in anger. "Hufflepuff will be deducted one hundred points..."
"Professor, I think you've misunderstood," Kyle interrupted. "If you look closely, you'll see that wasn't my intention."
"Kyle is right, Professor Snape," Lockhart said as he walked over to examine the statue.
"The axe is a foot off to the side. Even if it fell, it would only hit the stage next to him. Flint wouldn't be harmed at all."
He continued cheerfully, "When I traveled to Valoga, I often used this method to scare off evil creatures. They all realized their mistakes and never dared to harm anyone again."
Snape paid no heed to Lockhart's words.
"Why did you do that..." He glared at Kyle. "When you could have easily won with a simple Disarming Charm?"
"I'm sorry, Professor Snape," Kyle said. "I only learned the Disarming Charm today and am not yet proficient at it. This was simpler."
Snape's expression darkened.
Snape's chest heaved with anger, and he couldn't be bothered to waste more words on Kyle. He simply pointed towards the direction of the Great Hall's entrance.
"Hufflepuff will lose fifty points!"
"Get out, now!"
Kyle didn't argue and simply put away his wand before striding out of the Great Hall.
He had originally intended to observe the students during the Dueling Club to see if anyone exhibited abnormal behavior, but it seemed like he wouldn't have that opportunity now.
So far, everyone he knew, including Ron, Harry, and even Lockhart, seemed to be acting normal, with no signs of being controlled by the diary.
It was unlikely that staying any longer would yield any useful information.
"I shouldn't have come. What a waste of fifty points," Kyle sighed as he exited the Great Hall.
At that moment, Connor, Cedric, and the others joined him.
"Thanks to you, Kyle," Fred laughed. "I've been wanting to leave, but I couldn't find a good opportunity."
"Yeah, we're not learning anything useful from Lockhart and Snape," George added, glancing at the Great Hall's door. "I doubt the monster in the Chamber of Secrets would bow to me like they do to Lockhart."
As he spoke, he mimicked some of Lockhart's gestures and said, "Oh... these moves are so silly."
"That stone statue you created was awesome," Cedric said. "I can't believe you've already mastered partial transformation. Professor McGonagall only mentioned it last week."
"Is this the one?" Connor pointed to a stone statue near the Great Hall's entrance. "It looks just like the one you made."
The group chatted away, not giving Kyle a chance to interject.
"I..."
Kyle barely got a word out before Cedric patted him on the shoulder.
"Don't worry about the lost points," he said with a smile. "It's just fifty points. We Hufflepuffs don't mind."
"Yeah," Fred agreed. "Gryffindor is always at the bottom, but we're still happy. It's all about getting used to it."
"I'd gladly take a hundred-point deduction if I could teach Flint a lesson," he added.
Professor McGonagall probably wouldn't be pleased to hear that.
"I wasn't too concerned about the points anyway," Kyle smiled. "Remember last year when Snape took fifty points from me in just two classes?"
"That's true..." George nodded. "See, I told you we didn't need to comfort him."
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have said those insincere words," Fred muttered. "We do care about our points, actually."
It was already quite late, and the group parted ways at the stairs.
Back in the empty Hufflepuff common room, Cedric continued to talk about Kyle's transformation spell.
"It's a shame Professor McGonagall wasn't there. She wouldn't have let Snape deduct the points..."
"I was just experimenting," Kyle said. "The stage might have been assembled from separate parts, so it's not really a true whole, making it much simpler to manipulate."
"That's still impressive," Cedric said as he sat on a sofa. "Such a large statue... Even with normal transformation, I could only manage a rough shape, let alone make it move flexibly."
"It doesn't need to be flexible, that's too troublesome," Kyle said. "You just need to focus your energy on the most critical areas."
"What you mean is... the continuity of the transformation? But normally, the statue's arms are fixed, so wouldn't you need to divert some of your magic?"
"It won't work with a statue, but it will with armor..."
"Armor... So that's it! You changed its structure from the beginning!" Cedric exclaimed. "I should've realized. Professor McGonagall mentioned before..."
Connor stood by, blinking in confusion.
What's going on? These two were just fine a moment ago, and now they're discussing transfiguration, and I can't understand a word they're saying.
...
(End of Chapter)
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