"...Ignore him."
Hermione glared at the approaching Malfoy and shook her head at Harry.
"Shut up, Mudblood, you have no place to speak here!"
Hearing Hermione's voice, Malfoy immediately shouted loudly, and the Slytherins surrounding him burst into laughter.
"How dare you—"
Ron stood up angrily, his face turning red, almost matching his hair in color.
"What's the matter, Weasley? Gonna use that pathetic spell of yours again?"
Seeing Ron standing at the front, Malfoy kept taunting even though his expression turned somewhat grim as he instinctively reached for his magic wand in his pocket—the memory of vomiting slugs for five hours was one he probably wouldn't forget for life.
He had to be cautious.
"Heh, you better pray you can dodge it—"
As if seeing through Malfoy's thoughts, Ron couldn't help but curl his lips as he pulled out his magic wand, his face full of threats.
"Bring it on, friend of a Mudblood."
Having his thoughts seen through, Malfoy didn't hide anymore and pulled out his magic wand in reverse—he was confident he could easily defeat Ron. He hadn't missed a single Duel Club session this semester, and early on, Snape's preferential treatment of Slytherin students was more than evident.
As for the later sessions, while Professor Flitwick did not show favoritism, he was basically fair to all.
So, facing an "invalid" who had been bedridden for most of the year, Malfoy was quite confident.
But he wasn't the only one thinking this...
"Wait," Harry held back the eager Ron and said in a low voice, "Let me go first—"
"But..."
"You can be my backup; if I can't hold on, then you go—"
"...Alright."
Though somewhat unwilling, Ron stepped back two paces—he had attended the last two sessions of the Duel Club this semester, and he could see the significant progress everyone had made. Not mentioning Harry, who was almost cracking the ceiling with Cedric, even Hermione could defeat him without moving, and even Neville—
He had personally seen the chubby little guy pull out a pot of Devil's Snares without any expression during a duel.
Though it was taken away by William in the next moment, earning three flicks to the forehead—yet, the Slytherin fourth-year student facing Neville at the time opted to surrender right away, as the chubby guy pulled out five Chomping Cabbages after William turned away.
And it seemed like he could pull out more.
So, although Ron wasn't sure how much Malfoy had improved, he felt he shouldn't be able to beat him.
Though unwilling, he believed in Harry.
"...Apologize to my friend."
Looking at the provocatively smirking Malfoy, Harry frowned and swallowed back the curse almost slipping out, speaking seriously.
"Are you too dumb from reading? Making me apologize to a Mudblood?"
Malfoy seemed extremely furious, as if Harry's words were a huge insult.
"So, you're not going to apologize?"
Harry's expression remained serious, asking slowly, though he could barely suppress the humor inside—he remembered William once telling him that if you truly wanted to cause trouble for someone, you had to have a justified reason.
That way he could back you up.
"Nonsense, I'm—"
"Smack—"
The next moment, the crowd quieted down as a white glove smacked onto the boy's pale face and then slowly fell to the ground.
"..."
Looking at the glove on the lawn, Malfoy found the whiteness unbearable to stare at. He took a deep breath, bloodshot eyes glaring, "How dare you?" He squeezed out the words through his teeth.
"Why wouldn't I? What's the matter, Malfoy, are you going to bring up your father again?"
Harry calmly wiped his hands. Perhaps thanks to Cedric and Cho Chang, his energy cultivation ability was strong, and remaining calm even in the face of a crumbling mountain was not too hard for him, "Or, are you afraid?"
"You..."
Malfoy was furious, fully understanding the significance of the glove—the initiation of a medieval noble duel, indicating a fight to the death for one side.
"If that's the case, then you can cry home to daddy, or let him duel me instead—" Harry didn't give Malfoy a chance to retort, sarcastic remarks pouring out like a barrage, "Poor little Draco baby."
And so, Malfoy turned flushed.
The boy's pale skin began to redden, bulging veins climbing up his neck, "Let's do it then." The boy bent down to pick up the glove Harry had transformed, and stared at Harry fiercely, his eyes bloodshot.
"Ron, you be my assistant."
Harry retrieved his magic wand from his pocket, the argument had already drawn quite a bit of attention, and seeing that a duel was about to unfold, people naturally formed a circle around the boys on opposite ends of the lawn, looking somewhat excited.
"...Crabbe, you follow me."
Seeing Ron behind Harry, Malfoy took a deep breath and gritted his teeth.
The groups quickly got into formation, Harry holding his magic wand, looking at Malfoy who had also drawn his wand. He held his wand vertically in front of him, without looking for a referee, both bowing simultaneously, and then raised their wands over their heads—
"Three—"
The surrounding crowd began to count down unconsciously.
"Two—"
"One!"
"Rictusempra!"
Malfoy shouted, waving his wand forward, a charm shooting toward Harry.
Harry seemed unresponsive until the charm landed in front of him, he gently flicked his wand, catching the charm before flinging it toward the Slytherin crowd, causing the foremost Goyle to burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Densaugeo!"
Seeing Harry unscathed, Malfoy sent another charm his way.
Yet again, it proved ineffective, as the now hysterically laughing Goyle sprouted a pair of rabbit teeth.
"Expelliarmus!"
"Stupefy!"
This time, not those nasty curses, Malfoy quickly swung his wand, sending out a flurry of spells - it must be said, Malfoy had talent; not every second-year student in the Duel Club could cast so many spells in one go.
"Protego."
This time, Harry didn't dodge but gently waved a glowing golden, transparent shield before him, just rippling slightly from Malfoy's spells which evaporated before it; Harry had already reached his opponent.
"..."
"..."
Under a gaze of hatred, Harry couldn't help but curl his lips.
"Is that it?"