# Ron
"Wouldn't it be great if they both ended up taking each other out?" Ron whispered into Harry's ear. Harry glanced awkwardly at Orli, but she pretended not to hear.
On stage, Snape was looking at Lockhart with a sinister smile that Orli had never seen before. She shivered instinctively; if Snape ever looked at her like that, she would run as far and as fast as she could. And yet, Lockhart still managed to keep smiling?!
The demonstration began quickly.
Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed. At least, Lockhart bowed, adding a flourish of hand gestures over his chest. Snape, on the other hand, merely nodded impatiently. Then, they raised their wands, holding them like swords in front of their chests.
# Lockhart
"As you can see, we grip our wands in the standard dueling stance," Lockhart said to the silent crowd.
# Lockhart
"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Of course, neither of us will be aiming to kill."
# Harry
"I wouldn't bet on that," Harry muttered under his breath, eyeing Snape's expression.
# Lockhart
"One—two—three!"
Both men swung their wands sharply over their shoulders at the same time. Snape was the first to shout:
# Snape
"Expelliarmus!"
A dazzling red light shot out, hitting Lockhart squarely. He was thrown violently backward off the stage, crashing into the wall before sliding to the floor in a heap, motionless.
Several Slytherins in the audience broke into applause, Malfoy among them. A few Gryffindor girls seemed worried, standing on tiptoes to peer at Lockhart and shrieking to each other:
"Is he alright? Professor Lockhart, are you okay?"
# Harry
"Who cares?" Harry and Ron said in unison.
Lockhart staggered to his feet, his hat missing and his golden curls standing on end like static-charged wires.
# Lockhart
"Well, as you can see, that was a Disarming Charm," he said, picking up his wand and wobbling back onto the stage. Just as he was about to say something else, Snape raised his hand and flicked his wand again. This time, he didn't even bother to speak, casting a silent spell instead.
With a loud "bang," Lockhart was once again sent flying. He spun through the air before crashing into a statue at the far end of the hall. The impact was so strong that the statue shattered. It took Lockhart a long moment to sit up, clutching his chest and coughing violently.
# Lockhart
"Alright, alright. Cough… cough… As you can see, 'Expelliarmus' and the 'Levicorpus Flip'..."
He struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall and trying to appear nonchalant.
# Lockhart
"Yes, Professor Snape, cough… it was a brilliant idea to demonstrate those two spells. However, your intent just now was far too obvious. If I had wanted to stop you, it would've been effortless. I merely thought it would be educational for the students to see…"
Snape's expression was so terrifying that Lockhart hastily cut his rambling short.
# Lockhart
"That concludes the demonstration! I think it's best if I teach you how to block unfriendly spells."
Looking flustered, he stood in the center of the hall and stole a glance at Snape, whose eyes gleamed with icy malice. Lockhart quickly averted his gaze.
# Lockhart
"Now then, I need two volunteers to come up and demonstrate—how about Longbottom and Weasley?"
# Snape
"That's not a good idea. These two 'prodigies' could cause catastrophic damage even with the simplest spells," Snape said lazily, casting a disdainful glance at Ron's battered wand with its exposed core, then sneering at Neville. Finally, his gaze settled on Malfoy.
# Snape
"Draco, you'll do."
---
# Author's Note:
The 'Levicorpus Flip' mentioned in this chapter is a spell from the movie adaptation, featured in the dueling club scene in the second film, where Draco uses it.
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