Happry Potter: The New Player

All the students soon felt disillusioned.

Lockhart was supposed to show them how to fight, but he chose the wrong opponent.

After counting to three, Snape waved his wand, producing a dazzling red light. Lockhart received the blow and was thrown off the stage against the wall and fell to the ground curling up in a fetal position.

Evan took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

As the girls began to scream, Lockhart staggered to his feet and quickly regained his composure.

He jumped onto the stage with an ironic smile, pondering what to say.

"I think everyone saw what happened; it was a disarming charm, as you can see, I have lost my wand."

"And you crashed!" the audience shouted.

Everyone underestimated Lockhart's attitude. He took the boos as compliments.

"Professor Snape, it was an excellent idea to show the students what it feels like to receive a disarming charm, but I could have easily deflected it. I think the students should broaden their horizons, let them..."

Seeing Snape's murderous look, Lockhart hastily said, "The demonstration is over. Now everyone will pair up, Professor Snape, can you assist me..."

They walked through the crowd and paired up the students.

Lockhart paired Neville and Justin, and Snape approached Harry and Ron.

"The dream team should split up, I believe...!" Snape said disdainfully and continued, "Weasley, you can be paired with Mason, as for you, Potter..."

Upon hearing his words, Harry unconsciously moved closer to Hermione.

"I don't think so," Snape said with a mocking smile, "Come here, Malfoy, let's see what the famous Harry Potter is made of. Miss Granger, you can pair up with Miss Millicent."

Malfoy walked arrogantly with a smile on his face.

He was followed by a tall, stout Slytherin girl. She menacingly lifted her chin, Hermione gave her a slight smile albeit reluctantly, and the girl ignored her.

The next duel was a disaster; Lockhart finished the countdown.

Harry and Malfoy were hit by each other's spells, and Snape quickly stepped in to help them. Neville and Justin were both on the ground, panting. Hermione and Millicent were still in action, the latter grabbing Hermione's hair, causing her to scream, their wands lying forgotten on the ground in the midst of their scuffle.

Harry jumped up and pulled Millicent away.

The worst duel was between Evan and Ron; Evan let Ron self-destruct, and Ron produced the same spell as Snape but instead of the intended result, Ron went flying although the effect was less potent than Snape's.

In the next instant, something unexpected happened.

A dark blue light shot out of Ron's wand. It was a spell Evan had never seen; its glow made it look sinister. This wasn't the killing curse, but Evan felt a fear of death in it.

He shouted loudly, "Protego."

The spell seemed to work; the dark blue light couldn't be bounced off by the spell but it slowed down.

It was as if the spell was made of acid; Evan saw the ground rapidly corroding, causing all the young wizards to gasp.

"God, Ron, what did you use?!" Evan exclaimed fearfully.

"I don't know," Ron said as if just waking up, "I just used it but didn't know that..."

Snape hurried over, looking at the dark marks on the ground. Then he looked at Ron with a peculiar gaze.

"Weasley, did you consult the restricted section books?" Snape said, his tone showing suspicion.

"No, no!" Ron replied, stuttering and looking suspiciously. Ron remembered the potions book they had taken.

"It must be your wand malfunctioning," Evan said. Seeing Ron's expression, Evan knew that if they questioned Ron further, he would reveal that they were brewing the Polyjuice Potion, so he quickly changed the subject, "Ron, I will never duel with you again until you change your wand."

"But the spell is..."

"Enough!" Snape said, "If you allow yourself to duel with that empty head of yours, they'll probably bury you tomorrow."

"That's right, Professor Snape. I believe it's better to teach them how to stop unpleasant spells like that," Lockhart said, "How about someone volunteers to demonstrate? How about Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley?"

"Not the best idea, Professor Lockhart," Snape swiftly approached Lockhart like a snake, "Longbottom is just like Weasley. We'd be sending Finch-Fletchley to the infirmary in a matchbox."

This made Neville blush with embarrassment. Snape said, "How about Malfoy and Potter?"

"Excellent!" Lockhart gestured for Harry and Malfoy to approach the center of the stage. The crowd stepped back to give them space.

Harry and Malfoy stood on opposite sides of the stage, Lockhart and Snape imparted combat knowledge to their respective students. Lockhart didn't know what to say to Harry, he waved his wand and it fell to the ground.

It was just as Evan remembered.

The long black snake emerged from Malfoy's wand and hit the stage with a loud thud. It then raised its head and prepared to attack.

The crowd screamed and stepped back.

Snape had intended to scare Harry a bit, but Lockhart made it worse. He cast a spell that sent the snake flying through the air, causing it to fall among the crowd.

The snake was furious. It headed straight for the nearest person, which happened to be Justin, raised its head showing its fangs, and assumed an offensive stance.

Everyone heard Harry speak to the snake in a hissing voice, causing everyone to hold their breath and remain motionless, the auditorium fell into a deathly silence.

The snake stopped, and Harry looked at Justin with a smile.

Upon seeing his gaze, everyone took a step back. Justin's face was filled with anger and horror.

"What are you doing?" Justin exclaimed in horror, tears streaming down his eyes, then he turned around and ran out of the Great Hall.

Evan hurried with Ron and dragged the bewildered Harry off the stage.

.....

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